Injuries revealed: The Premier League’s worst hit teams of the 2016/17 season
As the business end of the football season approaches, it's far from unusual for managers and fans to crack open excuses to explain performances that don't make the grade.
And one of the more common explanations noted by managers through gritted teeth in their post-match interviews is that their team is has been blighted by a raft of injuries.
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But which Premier League team has been hit hardest this season? Clever insurance boffins at JLT Speciality have calculated the number of injuries that have hit teams in England's top flight over the first half the season.
Things haven't quite ironed themselves out yet
Indeed they haven't. Slaven Bilic's team have been hammered the worst.
Counting up all the working days lost as a result of injury, West Ham have been hit the worst – over 10 times the number of player days compared with the comparatively healthy West Brom team.
In terms of the actual numbers of injuries, Sunderland overtake West Ham – indicating the Londoners also have longer injury periods on average.
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Down in 2016/17
The total number of injuries was lower than this time last year, but according to Duncan Fraser – the head of sport at JLT Speciality – the summer's international tournaments meant clubs were hit by a spike in injuries in July and August.
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And this is the most dangerous time of the year for players according to Fraser. He added:
Player burnout and injury from the gruelling schedules is becoming more common.
Our research over the past five seasons found that December is the month where most injuries occurred. The lack of a winter break may be one contributing factor.
Owen Hargreaves' promising career was cut short by knee problems (Source: Getty)
JLT Speciality has also estimated the financial cost of injuries to Premier League teams. In total players cost their clubs £79m over the first half of the season for stints on the sidelines – based on average wages for each team.
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Manchester City have shelled out the most in salaries for injured players since September. The Citizens have suffered 17 injuries which JLT estimate has cost the club a whopping £9.2m.
At the other end of the spectrum, Bournemouth – who have been blighted by 19 injuries – paid £586,000 to players while on the road to recovery.