Rob Atkinson has started the long road to recovery from his devastating ACL injury by rebuilding the muscle in his leg with light exercises.
The City defender could face anywhere between six and nine months on the sidelines after rupturing the tendon during the 1-1 draw with Sunderland in February. It will rule him out until at least the beginning of next season before facing a period of rebuilding his match fitness before being considered for selection.
As Atkinson insinuated, he will face both physical and mental challenges along the way having discussed his early stages of progress during an appearance on Robins TV. The 25-year-old was in the studio speaking ahead of City's defeat against Sheffield United on Tuesday.
When asked about his recovery, the former Oxford defender responded: "Very slow, but that was to be expected. It's been six and a half weeks now post-op but it's slow and steady progress now just trying to get some of that strength back that I've lost back into the leg.
"It was purely rest for the first four weeks but that allowed the muscle to completely disappear and left it very weak but I've started conditioning, a bit of SkiErg, ropes, bike, and trying to build that muscle back.
"As I said, it's going to be a long journey but I'm happy to do it, I've accepted it and I'm ready for it."
Former City defender Chris Honor, sitting alongside Atkinson, also highlighted the difficulties in coming back from a lengthy injury. He added: "Just talking about Rob, it's such a disappointment that he's suffered this injury.
"We were talking off air before he came on and I wish him all the best. It's a big challenge both mentally and physically and I'm sure the club will make it as interesting as possible over the next eight to nine months as he works hard in the gym and gets over those injury issues.
"Some of that is pressure in your own head, you've got to push yourself hard in the gym to keep yourself enthusiastic."
Elsewhere on the injury front, Joe Williams has returned to training this week following a hamstring injury that was initially believed to keep him out of action until the end of the season while Tomas Kalas is also in training and could be in contention to face Rotherham on Saturday.
Atkinson added: "You want all your players fit and available for selection and have the best arsenal possible but Joe is in training, Tomas is getting there and both are really, really good players that will make any team in the Championship stronger."
Given Williams' history of hamstring issues during his three years with City, Nigel Pearson will remain cautious in his comeback into the side, meaning Saturday's fixture against Rotherham will likely come too soon for him before the penultimate game of the season at home to Burnley on April 29.
However, there's little doubt he has become more durable as a player over the course of the season. This season Williams has featured 30 times in the Championship, 20 of those coming as a starter. His 2,100 minutes of game time this season is over 800 more than last season.
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