No grudge between me and Hunt, says Cech

Czech Republic and Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech says there’s no bad blood between him and Republic of Ireland winger Stephen Hunt.

Cech suffered a broken skull in 2006 after a collision with Hunt during a Chelsea-Reading match, and ever since has had to wear protective headgear when he plays.

Hunt always insisted it was an accident even though the then Chelsea manager, Jose Mourinho, believed otherwise, but Cech says it is water under the bridge.

“We always have a good chat when we meet on the pitch, but I don’t travel to Birmingham to have dinner with him because I don’t have time for that. I’m only joking!” said Cech yesterday.

“Every time we play against one another, after the game, we have a little chat. We did it last year when we played against Wolves and we swapped shirts after the match as well.

“There are things in life which are unfortunate and you can’t take back. But you have to look forward all the time and do something about it. I could sit at home and be upset about it, but that’s not the way I want to live.

“I want to just enjoy every football game I play, even against him and everybody else. It’s always better when you know you have put the bad things behind you so you can concentrate on the future.”

Cech is expecting a tough test from Ireland in tonight’s friendly, and believes Giovanni Trapattoni’s team are good enough to make a big impact at the European Championship Finals in June.

“Because they came through a difficult group and then the play-offs, the team showed they have real strengths and can really be a dark horse in their group if everything goes well.

“I know most of their players from the Premier League and it’s a very good squad. They play a good brand of football, they move the ball forward quickly and with a really good objective, and they have good strengths in the set-plays as well, so we have to be very careful.

“Our objective tomorrow is to play well and with confidence and to get a good result. I’ve played here twice before and it was always tough, the last match was a 1-1 draw in qualification.”

Cech expects Robbie Keane to provide the biggest threat to his goal, and believes the Ireland skipper proved he remains a top-quality player during his recent loan spell at Aston Villa.

“It still shows that he can still score goals,” says Cech. “He had a very good time with Villa scoring goals helping them to get some points.

“That’s why he’s still in the national team and why Ireland are counting on him to score goals in the Euro finals. He still has that quality.”

Cech also said yesterday that playing for his country is a welcome break from life at Chelsea, where the atmosphere is strained after a difficult season under new manager Andre Villas-Boas.

“If you have problems in the club and the club is not doing well, then it’s nice to come to an atmosphere where everyone is relaxed and enjoying themselves because we’ve achieved our target of qualifying for the European Championships.

“The atmosphere is different and you can enjoy it, but you always separate the two teams, national and club. Whatever problems you might have with the club or the national team, it doesn’t really concern the other.

“It’s a different type of challenge (at Chelsea). We have a big challenge to turn things around, but I think we’ll finish better than fourth.”