A TOP Russian player has died as a result of serious head injuries sustained during a street robbery in Moscow.

Anatoly Ustyagov, the 27 years-old Spartak Moscow forward, died on Monday morning in a Moscow hospital, having not regained consciousness after the attack.

According to Moscow police, after attending a evening practice session Ustyagov was robbed by a gang of youths at a nearby Metro station on his way home. He suffered a serious head injury after being hit with a mobile phone.

Police believe that seconds before the robbery he was having a phone conversation with his wife. Ustyagov wasn't found until the next morning, lying unconscious on the floor of the station.

Doctors worked for several hours to try and save Ustyagov, but he was placed on an artificial respirator and died shortly afterwards.

Ustyagov had recently moved to Spartak Moscow after the team was promoted to the Russian Hockey League.

The forward, born in Usolye-Sibirskoye, started his career with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in 1995. After that season the Detroit Red Wings drafted him in the 4th round, 104th overall.

He never made the move to the USA, but continued to play in Russia. Besides playing with Yaroslavl, Ustyagov also played at Torpedo Nizhny-Novgorod and Amur Khabarovsk.

With Amur he enjoyed his best season in 2001-2002 when he notched 9 goals and 16 assists for 25 points in 45 games. He played with Lada Togliatti last season before making the move to Spartak Moscow.