City won’t take risks rushing back injured players

training session in front of supporters on Tuesday. The Czech Republic international missed the last 10 games of last season and was not 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.”

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 today, Pearson admitted he has lost weight due to his illness, which could see a return to the starting XI for Timm Klose.

However, elsewhere in the squad, Pearson gas admitted he was in a welcome quandary over selection at right wing-back after Mark Sykes’ impressive competitive debut against Hull last weekend.

The City manager started the former Oxford United winger over fellow new arrival Kane Wilson at the MKM Stadium after the latter struggled with an ankle knock in the build-up to the game. Wilson replaced Sykes on the hour mark but the 22-year-old is fit and in contention to start against Sunderland today.

While City were stretched for options in that position throughout last season with Pearson experimenting with six different players, the manager, somewhat ironically, now has options in that department.

While Wilson and Sykes are the obvious candidates to start, George Tanner is also pushing for minutes after a fine pre-season.

Alex Scott is also an option judging by his role in that position in the second half of last season.

Pearson said: “You’ll find out after the players find out on match day but it’s a nice problem to have because I think it’s a game where we will need to really push them throughout the entirety of the game so we’ll have someone chomping at the bit to get on too.”