Sancet played 515 of 540. His cover just healed the same muscle.

Oihan Sancet has been Athletic Club's one fixed outfield piece under Edin Terzić this season. He's started all six Liga games and played 515 of 540 minutes; only Unai Simón has played more. He missed Wednesday's session, and on Thursday the club confirmed a moderate muscle injury in his left soleus, "pending evolution", with no return date.

Here's the part the scoreline won't show. Peio Canales is the favourite to replace him as the No.10, and he's only just back from a moderate left soleus injury of his own, the same muscle and the same grade, which kept him out against Atlético and Elche. Since then he's played the last quarter-hour against Alavés, 60 minutes as mediapunta in the EH Txapela, and the closing stretch of Spain under-21s' 7-1 win over Romania. So Terzić swaps his most-used outfielder for a player whose calf has only just taken a real workload again. If Canales can't go long, the options are Álex Berenguer or Robert Navarro inside, or two strikers, Guruzeta and Iñaki Williams, with no classic mediapunta.

This lands on top of Nico Williams, out with a moderate left rectus femoris injury he picked up in Spain's game against Croatia. Marca and El Correo both have Sancet missing Rayo at Vallecas on Sat 10 Oct (14:00 CEST) and Valencia on the 17th. El Correo says the target is the rescheduled Levante game on 21 Oct or Getafe at San Mamés on the 25th. Those dates are press estimates; the club hasn't given one.

The graph: Athletic's spine ran through a player who'd stayed fit for six games after seasons of muscle trouble. Now he's out, and his backup is running on a freshly healed version of the same injury.

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— Jet Callen / THE GRAPHS