Nigel Pearson has hinted Antoine Semenyo is closing on a return to action after admitting the striker believes he is "alright to play" but has ruled centre-back Tomas Kalas out of this weekend's fixture against Sunderland at Ashton Gate.
The Bristol City manager won't rush the Robins' key striker back but Semenyo, with expectation initially that he wouldn't be back until September, the Ghana international is thought to be recovering well ahead of schedule from his shin injury and is anticipated to return before the end of the month.
Semenyo took part in a light session on Tuesday at City's open training at Ashton Gate although was restricted to just using the exercise bike. He was then mobbed by supporters where he reportedly revealed he is hoping to be back "maybe sooner." While Pearson said Saturday's game with Sunderland is likely to come too soon for the 22-year-old, the manager went into further detail about his recovery ensuring the club will continue to take a methodical approach to ensure he'll return fit and firing.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, the manager said: "When you look at someone like Antoine, I think what is sensible with the type of injury he has had... (when I say) his loading, I mean the amount of training and the stresses that he is put under needs to be built up so it would be pretty stupid and unprofessional to just bung him back in, even though he thinks he's alright to play.
"I'd rather have that as a situation where we have to rein players in but he is making good progress and we are all hopeful he will be with us sooner rather than later but I won't give a date or timeframe."
Kalas provided a glimmer of hope that he would make his eagerly-anticipated return against Sunderland after he was involved in a full training session in front of supporters on Tuesday. The Czech Republic international missed the last 10 games of last season and wasn't involved in any of City's pre-season matches.
Pearson was again reluctant to provide a timeframe on when Kalas will return to action following his knee injury and suggested the defender is still feeling pain or discomfort which they are trying to manage before considering bringing him back into the fold.
"When he's fit enough or whether the pain is manageable," Pearson responded when asked whether he'll soon be in contention. "Looks can be deceptive but I agree with you he was at full tilt (on Tuesday) but he's the type of player who needs to know himself whether he's okay. Watching him in a training session is one thing but how he reacts to that is another thing.
"At the moment, he's not going to be in contention. What's important is we need to take a longer view of this.
"He's a player who has played through quite a bit of discomfort through time, he's frustrated with the situation but when there's an update I'll let you know. He hasn't picked up something new.
"It's a knee issue... he's a bit of a warhorse and you're going to get wear and tear injuries when you play how he does. Unfortunately in the modern game, it's a bit different to previous eras when you can get away with certain discomfort, they're more athletic and a lot fitter now.
"The game is different so he's had back-to-back seasons of the league and international football and it takes his toll."
Pearson also suggested both players are likely to first build their minutes with the Under-23s before being thrown straight into first-team action. City face Barnsley in the Professional Development League on Tuesday which could offer an opportunity to test their fitness.
"Preferably not, especially at the start of the season," he added, when asked if they can come straight back into the first-team without any game time. "If it was towards the end and we were pushing for promotion or relegation or there is an endpoint that means it is a risk worth taking but not really."
With Kalas ruled out, the manager could be short of options in central defence as he sweats on the fitness of Zak Vyner. An illness picked up after the defeat at Hull saw him return to light training on Wednesday and while a consideration for Saturday, Pearson admitted he has lost weight due to his illness, which could see a return to the starting XI for Timm Klose.
He said: "He has trained today and he's done some of the training yesterday. He's lost a bit of weight through being ill but he seems much better in himself. He will be, I would imagine, in contention."
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