City waiting to see if Kalas is fit to play

BRISTOL City have been given an injury scare on the eve of the visit of Blackburn Rovers to Ashton Gate with defender Tomas Kalas sent home early from the Czech Republic camp.

Kalas flew to Prague last week and was scheduled to play in both their international fixtures, a friendly against Kuwait followed by Tuesday’s World Cup qualifier against Estonia.

However, after being left out of the squad as a precautionary measure for the Kuwait game due to a foot injury which came to light last Wednesday, he was then released on Monday and allowed to return to Bristol.The 28-yearold will be assessed by team doctors with City expected to confirm his status at today’s pre-match press conference.

Losing Kalas would be a blow for the Robins as they look to address their damaging form since mid-October that has sent them plummeting as low as 19th in the Championship. City have lost five of their last six games, conceding 14 goals in the process.

Although Kalas has been a mainstay of that backline, he remains one of City’s standout performers. Should Kalas not be able to face Blackburn and if Rob Atkinson has not recovered from the tight calf that ruled him out of the Coventry loss, assistant Curtis Fleming will be left with Nathan Baker and Zak Vyner as his only fit first-team centre-backs.

Atkinson has trained this week, and the hope will be the 23-yearold can return to the middle of defence. Robbie Cundy remains out with a knee problem while Taylor Moore was loaned to Hearts for the season in August.

Baker returned to training last week after missing City’s last three matches with concussion with Vyner stepping into the centre of defence from right-back. The academy product has delivered some strong performances, but errors against Birmingham and Coventry directly led to goals. ■ City’s Championship rivals Reading have been deducted six points by the English Football League for breaching financial rules. The EFL determined the Royals lost £57.8m between 2017 and 2021 - the EFL’s limit for that period is £39m.

A further six-point deduction is suspended until the end of next season, provided they comply with a business plan which includes player spending.

Reading drop from 16th to 19th in the Championship, on 16 points, four clear of the relegation places and a development that bumps Bristol City up to 18th.

Reading are the second Championship outfit to be punished this week after Derby County were deducted a further nine points for financial breaches on Tuesday. They lost 12 points in September for entering administration, meaning they are bottom of the table on -3 points.