His side's scheduled League Two match at Crewe was postponed late last week due to three international call-ups at Alex.

City were unhappy the game was only called off last Friday, having sold 1,600 tickets, with Crewe also playing a rearranged game at Gillingham in midweek without the international trio. They have complained to the EFL.

The break does at least provide City with extra time to allow Jamie Walker and Dara Costelloe to work on their fitness, alongside their existing injured players.

But ideally, Hughes would have preferred to be playing.

The City chief said: “We’ll get a few back, obviously the likes of Matt Derbyshire and Thierry Nevers will hopefully be back in the frame as well as the lads already mentioned. We’ll have more options the next time out.

“(But) To miss another weekend, when we’ve already missed games through weather and whatever, we don’t like it when that happens.”

Crewe keeper James Beadle is with the England under-19s, while Lachlan Brook is at an Australia under-23 training camp in Italy and Connor O’Riordan is in Ireland's under-21 squad.

Hughes added: “I think Crewe probably would have been without their first-choice keeper. That’s the motivation behind them trying to invoke the rules, which they are entitled to do.

“I’m sure there's a lad going for an under-19 international at Lake Como against an Italian team. Why wouldn’t you, I suppose?

“It seems that there was maybe a little bit of motivation to get the game off, so they could protect the fixture with the goalkeeper that they want.

“We questioned it, but couldn’t do anything about it."

I'd have rather Bradford City were playing says Hughes after controversial Crewe postponement