Nigel Pearson admitted before the international break that centre-back Tomas Kalas has reached his "saturation point."
The Czech Republic defender, who has 28 caps, did not join the likes of Andi Weimann and Max O'Leary by heading off on international duty suggesting his groin injury was worse than initially feared.
Kalas, 28, has missed the last three games through injury after picking up a knock in the defeat at home to Birmingham City on March 5. Pearson then claimed Kalas was a doubt to play Blackburn in the following week but has been sidelined since with the manager determined not to rush him back into action.
Last Thursday, when asked on an update on Kalas, Pearson responded: "He needs time to recover basically. It's an overuse injury essentially.
"When you're dealing with international players who have played continually for two or three years without a significant break, psychologically it can be a big hurdle to get over but when you're a physical player like Tomas, the wear and tear side of it certainly comes into play. And to be fair he's played through quite a lot of pain and discomfort for a while, and it was the same last season.
"Every player gets to a saturation point, and it's good to give him the opportunity to recover."
So how much football has Kalas been playing over the few seasons compared to his team-mates? We crunched the numbers to suggest why the defender's recuperation period is much needed.
Season 2021/22
Kalas has featured 35 times in the league this season, clocking up a total of 3071 minutes. He played 120 minutes in the FA Cup defeat to Fulham and the full 90 minutes in the EFL Cup penalty exit versus Forest Green Rovers with a total of 3,281.
Only two City players have featured more this season in Andi Weimann with 3,509 and veteran striker Chris Martin who has played two more minutes.
Goalkeeper Dan Bentley has 2,727 despite his spell out of the side over the New Year while Han-Noah Massengo has 2,422.
Kalas spent the first game of the season on the bench in the 1-1 draw with Blackpool before playing 11 minutes against Middlesbrough in the second outing of the season. Since then, he had played the full match in every contest up until the Blackburn fixture.
The former Chelsea man was also called up for his country's international friendlies against Ukraine and Kuwait but failed to get off the bench.
Season 2020/21
Pearson specifically mentioned referenced how Kalas' international involvement, particularly last season, has been a major factor in his saturation point.
Last season was certainly one of the busiest during his career having played 44 times for the Robins throughout the campaign, 40 in the league, three in the FA Cup and one in the EFL Cup clocking in a total of 3,660 minutes. That also included missing four games with a shoulder injury.
Internationally, he played a big part in Czech Republic's side both at the Euros tournament and during World Cup qualification.
Kalas played the full 90 minutes in each game on their run to the Euro 2020 Quarter-finals before eventually crashing out to Denmark - meaning he played a total of 450 minutes.
He also played 270 minutes in their World Cup qualification group, 90 minutes in an international friendly and another 270 minutes in their Uefa Nations League group.
In total, he made 56 appearances throughout the campaign totalling 4,740 minutes. In comparison, Bentley earned 4,050 minutes that season ahead of Zak Vyner (3813).
Season 2019/20
It was a frustrating season for Kalas whose campaign was hampered by a number of injuries after agreeing a permanent deal at City. A hamstring injury was followed by knee tendinitis.
That limited his appearances to 23 league matches and one in the FA Cup, meaning he clocked up a total of 2,086 minutes. His injury also meant he was forced out of the international reckoning.
Bentley (4,022) and Weimann (3,727) were the City players who made the most appearances during the season but Kalas has played the most minutes by an outfield player by a long stretch as detailed below.
Most minutes played last three seasons (among current squad)
- Dan Bentley - 10,799
- Tomas Kalas -10,107
- Andi Weimann - 7,931
- Chris Martin - 7,860
- Nahki Wells - 7,429
- Zak Vyner - 7,398
- Han-Noah Massengo - 6,319
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