Monday 6 June 2016 21:54, UK
Russia's defensive midfielder Igor Denisov will miss Euro 2016 after suffering a hamstring injury in a friendly against Serbia.
The Russian squad had already lost the influential Alan Dzagoev after the CSKA Moscow midfielder fractured a bone in his foot last month.
The 32-year-old Denisov, who plays for Dynamo Moscow, went down in the 51st minute of Sunday's 1-1 friendly draw.
"I injured my hamstring in the match against Serbia," Denisov said. "It's a pity, but I will have to miss the Euros."
Zenit St. Petersburg midfielder Artur Yusupov, who trained with the team on Monday, has been called up as a replacement. He had been staying in the same Monaco hotel as the team.
The Russia Football Union said an MRI scan on Denisov's leg showed muscle damage that "rules out the possibility of a recovery within the next two weeks".
He will return to Russia from France, where the Euros kick off on Friday, to undergo medical treatment.
"Words fail me, it's a pity and it's so unexpected," Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko, who also serves as president of the RFU, told TASS agency. "Of course it will weaken the team's midfield a great deal."
Russia open their Euro 2016 campaign with a Group B match against England in Marseille on Saturday.
