Norwich City defender Timm Klose all for a winter break in English football as injuries take their toll

Although Daniel Farke's side are still in the automatic promotion places, they have suffered injuries to 18 different first-team players this season

Timm Klose would like to see a winter break in English football (Rex Features)

Implementing a break in English football could’ve prevented Norwich City’s catalogue of injuries, claims Timm Klose.

Despite formidable progress in their quest for promotion, still sitting just below leaders Leeds in the Championship table, the Canaries have suffered no less than 18 injuries to the first team this season.

That expanding list includes top scorer Teemu Pukki, captain Alex Tettey, and even Klose himself, who had a bag of ice strapped to his leg as he waded into the mixed zone on New Year’s Day following their 1-1 draw at Brentford.

The German centre-back explained that the number of teammates on the sidelines has been a lingering concern, and that a rest period could have staved off the problems they are now facing deeper into their campaign.

“You think about it at the end of the game, especially when you see Tetts [Alex Tettey] and [Marco] Stiepermann go down,” Klose told the Independent, “Everywhere I’ve played there was a break in the winter. They had time to relax, and especially recover. But that’s English football, you have to accept it and getting through those periods and still being up there is a good achievement.”

A winter break in England has long been a fantasy for managers and players alike, often calling to replicate the football schedules of France, Italy, Germany and Spain. It was finally announced last summer that the 2019-2020 Premier League season will offer the first signs of a rest period – albeit just for one weekend in February.

But in the Football League, where teams have to play eight more fixtures than the top flight, there will be no such respite. With TV companies wielding more money – and therefore power – than ever, the idea of playing less games at Christmas is still fanciful at best.

“I don’t think it’s going to happen,” Klose admitted, “It’s too important that families can come out, especially Boxing Day, New Year’s Day. That’s tradition. Why should you change traditions?

"You could change it afterwards, maybe. We could talk about it, but it’s not up to me to decide. It’s just how I see it and how I lived it in Germany. Sometimes it can give you more power to come back in the next 23, 24 games.”

Daniel Farke's side has weathered a difficult storm of injuries so far this season (Getty)

While injury problems have come with a silver lining, allowing promising talent like Ben Godfrey and Todd Cantwell to shine through at times, it has mainly left Daniel Farke with a headache in defence.

Although Norwich have often stolen the headlines with their dramatically late comebacks, the lack of experience at the back has still imposed a glaring impact on the scoresheet, having conceded 13 goals in their last five games at Carrow Road.

“It’s always difficult when you change the team week in week out,” added Klose, “rather than keeping the same squad all the time, because the team have played many games together, and then they are confident together on the pitch.

“It’s hard when you have so many changes in the positions and now a centre-half has to play left-back and all that stuff comes together in the end. But I think we’re doing a really great job, everyone shows great passion at the moment on the pitch to fulfil his job."

After being dispatched from the FA Cup by Portsmouth, the Canaries now face a testing trip to West Brom on Saturday. Their hosts, lying two places below them, have lost just once in their last 13 games at home, and a win would take them above Norwich due to a superior goal difference.