Blackburn Rovers goalkeeper David Raya feared that his face was “fully broken” following a collision with West Brom’s Jay Rodriguez.
Blackburn Rovers goalkeeper David Raya has admitted that he feared the worst after a sickening mid-game collision which left him with a facial injury.
The Spaniard was stretchered off in the 82nd minute of Blackburn’s 1-1 draw at West Bromwich Albion on 27 October after coming together with Baggies striker Jay Rodriguez.
Raya’s injury was so graphic that Rovers boss Tony Mowbray revealed in a post-match interview with BBC Sport that his players “were feeling sick with what they saw”.
However, despite worrying about needing immediate surgery, Raya was able to return for Saturday’s 1-1 draw against Rotherham United, albeit with the use of a protective mask.
“I thought when it happened at the time that my face was fully broken,” Raya told the Lancashire Telegraph.
“It felt like a big crack in my face, so I thought I would need surgery straight away. I felt like my nose and my head wasn’t right. The main thing was that I didn’t get knocked out or anything so that gave me the belief a bit more.
“I wasn’t expecting to be back this quick. But when I saw the specialist on Wednesday before the game he told me that if the swelling went down and the stitches came out, they’d be happy for me to play with a mask. That was great news and I just pushed myself in training so that I could be back.”
The 23-year-old will need nose reconstruction surgery to fully fix the problem, but he has postponed that until the summer so as to not face up to eight weeks on the sidelines.
“We had the choice to do it now or at the end of the season,” Raya continued.
“It’s not impeding me to breathe or anything and if I had it now then I would be out for six to eight weeks. I think it’s the right decision to wait, even though my nose isn’t the same, I think it’s right to wait.”
Blackburn fans will be delighted to hear not only that Raya escaped serious injury, but that he is able to continue playing instead of sitting on the sidelines.
With five clean sheets in 15 Championship games, Raya has helped Blackburn to ninth in the table, just two points behind sixth-placed Derby County.
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