Blues manager Paul Jewell says the current 12-month fixture programme is tough on international footballers. Connor Wickham, Damien Delaney, Tamás Priskin and Márton Fülöp are amongst the Town players who are likely to be involved with their national sides in games stretching into early June, only three weeks before they are due to return to Playford Road for pre-season training on June 29th.
Jewell said: "I spoke to Stuart Pearce the other day regarding Connor because Connor’s going to be in both England squads, U19 and U21, although obviously he can’t play in both.
"The Hungarian lads are going to play San Marino and Luxembourg on June 4th and 9th. I think it’s important that players get a break.
"I think for international players now it’s almost 12 months of the year. Someone like Connor Wickham, who has had a lot of games and a lot of hype, sometimes needs to get away from the game just for two or three weeks to try and forget about it and come back refreshed.”
The Blues boss admits that not everyone will be sympathetic with that view but feels that footballers need a break like anyone else: "OK, we get well paid and all that, but people don’t realise that it’s a tough profession at times and mentally and physically it can take its toll on players.
"As a club manager you’d like everything to shut down and everyone have a rest from playing and training for a month. I think it’s tough on international players.
"You can talk about burn out and stuff like that. I know some people who would give their right arm to be footballers are probably thinking ‘what’s he talking about?'. But it’s like everything else, you definitely need a break from the job you do.”
Wickham has been named in Pearce's provisional squad for the UEFA European U21 Championship in Denmark but if he isn't involved will play in U19 qualifying group games in Switzerland.
Meanwhile, Town owner and chairman Marcus Evans's wealth has been estimated at £625 million in this year's Sunday Times Rich List, in which he is placed 124th. Evans is said to be worth £115 million more than he was a year ago.
Other estimates elsewhere have previously cited Evans as a billionaire.