The Zenit St. Petersburg hitman injured himself in a 2-1 EURO 2008 warm-up win over Serbia, and has been struggling ever since.

Subsequently, Russia coach Guus Hiddink has decided to send the forward him as he seemed to have accepted the decision.

"There is no point in keeping an injured player here. Life goes on, it doesn’t end here. I must prepare for new games," said Pogrebnyak.

"The sooner I have the surgery the better for me and everybody else."

Uncapped Krylia Sovetov midfielder Oleg Ivanov was called up as a replacement for the jinxed Pogrebnyak, who missed Zenit's UEFA Cup final win through suspension.

Pogrebnyak's absence will be a blow for Russia, who already miss suspended star man Andrei Arshavin in the first two games against Russia and Greece.