Sochi defender Sergey Volkov has shared his ambitions to rejoin Zenit St. Petersburg and fight for a place in the starting lineup. In an exclusive interview with Metaratings.ru ahead of the match against Zenit, the 28-year-old outlined his career goals after recovering from a serious injury.
— What are your future career plans?
“The plan is to return to Zenit, prove my worth, and give everything in training. We’ll see how the coaching staff decides, but my job is to work hard and show what I can do every session. Yes, I suffered an injury — nobody expected that.”
— Would you prefer to stay at Sochi, or is Zenit your priority?
“Sochi gave me time and the chance to regain my fitness after a long layoff. I didn’t play football for 12 months, just recovered, and didn’t even step onto the pitch. I’m very grateful to the management and everyone for making it possible to come here and get back to full condition. What will happen at Zenit? I don’t know myself. The primary goal is to arrive, establish myself, and become a first-team player.”
— Have you analyzed how you got injured? Do you link it to your transfer from Krasnodar to Zenit?
“The injury happened spontaneously. It was a normal training session — we had just finished a training camp and played maybe three or four sessions. I was running, slipped, and nothing was bothering me, mentally or physically. It was an accident. People sometimes run on flat ground, stumble, and tear their cruciate ligaments — it’s just a matter of chance. I’ve thought about it, but I believe it was an unfortunate incident.”
In the match, Zenit defeated Sochi 2-1 in the 29th round of the Russian Premier League. Luis Henrique (assisted by Maksim Glushenkov) opened the scoring for Zenit in the 59th minute, and Aleksandr Erokhin added the winner in the 84th. Zakhar Fedorov (assisted by Artyom Makarchuk) had put Sochi ahead in the 31st minute. Zenit also missed a penalty through Luis Henrique in the 13th minute.
The match at the Gazprom Arena saw Zenit dominate possession and create numerous chances, while Sochi defended resolutely. The result keeps Zenit in contention at the top of the table as the season enters its final stages.