Injuries decimate Russia squad

Russia have left with only 15 outfield players and two goalkeepers for tomorrow's friendly against Italy after Roman Pavlyuchenko became the latest casualty due to injury. The Spartak Moscow striker was forced to pull out after suffering a thigh injury...

Russia have left with only 15 outfield players and two goalkeepers for tomorrow's friendly against Italy after Roman Pavlyuchenko became the latest casualty due to injury.

The Spartak Moscow striker was forced to pull out after suffering a thigh injury at the weekend.

Injuries have already ruled out Zenit St Petersburg duo, striker Andrei Arshavin and midfielder Vladimir Bystrov, while CSKA Moscow goalkeeper Igor Akinfeyev and team-mate Alexei Berezutsky withdrew due to club commitments.

CSKA face Benfica in the last 32 of the UEFA Cup on February 17 and their coach Valery Gazzayev has been reluctant to release his players for the national team duty.

Gazzayev agreed to release left winger Yuri Zhirkov because he is suspended for the first leg tie against the Portuguese club.

Russia manager Georgy Yartsev, however, has decided against calling up replacements for the game in Cagliari - his team's final tune-up before they resume their World Cup qualifying campaign in March.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.