There's a modesty about Tomas Kalas when he talks about his return to the Bristol City side.
Without taking his recent history of groin and knee injuries into account, the defender was one of the best players on the pitch against Manchester City. Add to the fact it was just his second start in almost a year, and his performance becomes even more impressive.
"Whether I played well or not, I'll let you decide," he said as he sat in his post-match press conference following the 3-0 defeat against Pep Guardiola's side.
In an interview with Robins TV, he also responded when quizzed about his series of well-timed tackles and his clearance off the line: "Blocking on the line is my job. Sliding tackles is also my job."
There was disappointment in his voice in the knowledge that despite playing one of the best teams in the world, City couldn't pull off an FA Cup shock. Those are the standards he sets as he looks to make up for lost time.
Only he and those closest to him will understand the difficulties he has been through over the last 11 months. Following his substitute appearance against Preston in February, Kalas wrote on social media: "It’s been tough 10 months. Only few know what I’ve been through and to them, I’m forever grateful for standing by my side.
"So happy to be back on the pitch doing what I always wanted to do."
Kalas made his highly-awaited return to action in October as a substitute against Millwall. He managed 32 minutes of league action over two games before suffering another setback that would keep him out until the New Year.
There has been an understandable caution not to rush him back into action to prevent the risk of more time on the sidelines. With Rob Atkinson out for the rest of the season with an ACL injury, City need him in the heart of the defence if they want to mount an outside shot of the play-offs.
Kalas is confident he's back in the side for the long haul and his patience will be rewarded. "I think the way I was coming back was very cautious and I was feeling quite fit for a while so I would be surprised if I wasn't fit to play for 90 minutes at any level," he said.
"Obviously, it's quite nice to come back straight into a game like this in FA Cup. I'm glad that it came, I'm glad that I lasted the whole game."
Kalas reiterated that point with Robins TV, saying: "You're trying to impress people but not as much as yourself because you always have a point to prove, if not to someone else at least to yourself.
"Obviously, I haven't played, it was almost a year since I last played a game from the first minute.
"So I'm quite enjoying being back, overcoming what I had to overcome, coming back and within a couple of games playing such a game, it would have been a wasted opportunity if I didn't enjoy it."
Nigel Pearson certainly enjoyed it. Kalas looked every bit of the player City paid £8million for him back in the summer of 2019 and having challenged him to extend his deal which expires at the end of the season, the 29-year-old certainly looks up to the task.
"Do you know something?" Pearson started in his response when asked about Kalas' performance. "I think the thing about Tomas, when you see him up against players of the calibre he's up against tonight, He's a really good destructive player.
"I said to him before the game, 'you've been broken in now, you've played 70 minutes and one 90 minutes and there you go, you're playing against Manchester City tonight.'
"He just takes it in his stride, he's able to deal with that type of situation. I thought he showed his experience and his ability to be a little bit flexible tonight.
"I don't know if you noticed but in the first half he was following De Bruyne in quite a long way and we were going man for man at the back. I thought our players were really brave in that regard.
"Tomas was really good tonight and so here on in, I hope he can replicate those types of performances because when you have been out for as long as he has and gone on as a sub in an away game at Sunderland, which was a tough game to go on, then plays his first 90 minutes at the weekend and then go up against Man City.
"I thought he dealt with the occasion well and he's a good defender so I'm really pleased he's available and he's up for the challenge too."
If Kalas can maintain those levels of consistency and fitness between now and the end of the season, there's no doubt clubs will be queuing up for his signature. After all, a fit and in-form Kalas would represent a bargain for any club in the Championship.
As one of the highest earners in the squad, the likelihood is that he will need to accept a reduced salary, just as Nahki Wells did, in order to commit his future. And thereby lies the problem.
There will be clubs who have the financial muscle to blow City out of the water and the longer his deal remains unsigned, the likelihood of other sides taking note increases. For now, however, it's just a pleasure to see him back in a City shirt.
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