Football Manager 2022 relies heavily on you being able to keep your squad fit and healthy, so we have the perfect guide for you to do exactly that.

It’s always going to be a struggle if you have your star striker injured for a lengthy period of time, or if your first-choice goalkeeper goes down with a broken wrist.

Injury crises are just part of the game in Football Manager and it’s a big test of your managerial abilities to guide your club through such a spell.

Still, the hope is that you don’t have to deal with the issues, and that you can guide the club to glory, whatever that may be.

Take a look, for example, at Liverpool in real life. When they won the Premier League title, they barely had to deal with an injury issue.

Last season, though, they saw several first-team stars, including Virgil van Dijk, laid off for a significant period of time.

As a result, they struggled to retain their title, with Manchester City lifting the trophy yet again under the management of Pep Guardiola.

So how do you ensure that your players stay injury-free? We’ve put together a guide below!

1 Hire a top head physio

If you’re managing a Premier League club, there’s no excuse not to do this.

Aim to hire someone to head up the physiotherapy department who speaks English and who has high ratings for both Sports Science and Physiotherapy.

Do that and not only will the players be fitter, they’ll also recover from their injuries more quickly.

2 Sub quickly

Keep a close eye on your players’ fitness during games. As soon as they enter either orange or red hearts, take them off.

There’s simply no reason to keep these players on if they’re going to risk injury, particularly if they’re star players in your squad. It may hurt to sub them off, especially if you’re losing, but it’ll be worth it in the long run.

3 Consider holidays

You can send players on holiday to give them the chance to rest up and recuperate. It’s worth doing especially if you have a player who is particularly injury-prone, even if it’s just for a week.

4 Get hands-on with training

You can take control of managing the intensity of your players’ training and it’s well worth doing. If players have struggled with fitness, you can drop them down to half intensity, or even ensure that they don’t do any on-pitch or gym work.

When a player is recovering from injury, the best thing to do is give them a couple of weeks’ worth of half intensity training.

5 Read the medical reports

When you click on a player’s profile, you’ll be given a medical report, showing their overall physical condition, their match sharpness, and their overall risk of injury.

The latter can range from low to high; don’t play a player who is in the high range, unless the game is absolutely vital. You can get away with it in the Champions League final but if it’s a midweek away game to a team in the lower-leagues, probably give them a rest.

There is no guaranteed way to avoid injuries in Football Manager, just like in real life, but there are ways to minimise the risk.

If you follow these steps, it’s likely that you won’t have to deal with too many season-ending injuries, but we can’t promise anything!

Keep it tuned to GiveMeSport for all the latest gaming news.