Winter break? Many of the Championship's finest have enjoyed just that (of sorts) this season

Sam Baldock, his brother George and Seagulls skipper Bruno left the Amex after the 2-0 win at home to MK Dons in the FA Cup

George was the odd one out. He had just played in the match.

The other two had put third round day to good use by getting a rest.

They looked fresh and relaxed as they departed with their more weary companion.

Albion made changes for their FA Cup tie - and were not alone

It turns out the Albion pair were in good company. Teams who are chasing promotion and were spared top-flight opposition appear to have generated an unofficial winter break this year.

Many leading players with sides including Albion, Newcastle and Huddersfield are enjoying a 12-day interlude between matches.

Helped by the way the dates have fallen this year, they will go from January 2 until January 14 with no game.

That might just mean 90 minutes less work on a Saturday afternoon.

But many will have also seen their training schedules adapted accordingly to recuperate after a Christmas period which was, in the first place, not as intense as can be the case.

Albion also had the benefit of a postponement against Cardiff City.

No one took the rotation to the extremes of Chris Hughton, who made 11 changes for the FA Cup.

But comparing the FA Cup XI to the side sent out for the previous league game is not always the best gauge.

Huddersfield gave Elias Kachunga his first rest of the season

Teams might not have been at full strength on January 2.

Looking at the men who have played most league minutes in total this season perhaps gives a better guide.

Steve Sidwell was the only starter in the FA Cup from the 11 Albion players who have played most in the Championship this term. And he ranks 11th in minutes.

Actually make that top 12. We discounted Lewis Dunk from our calculation as he could not have played anyway, just as we excluded unavailable players at other clubs such as banned Newcastle midfielder Jonjo Shelvey and injured Sheffield Wednesday playmaker Kieran Lee.

Newcastle rivalled Albion for squad rotation as they drew 1-1 at Birmingham in a game marked by injury to recalled striker Aleksandar Mitrovic.

Toon made eight changes to the team beaten at Blackburn and fielded just two of their top 12 in terms of league minutes in Jamaal Lascelles and Vurnon Anita.

Huddersfield tend to make changes anyway with David Wagner, a German coach in his first full season in England, wary of the notorious mid-winter fixture list.

Wagner made a modest five changes to his FA Cup side to face Port Vale but that was on top of seven alterations in the previous game against Wigan.

He rested what is considered to be the spine of his team – striker Elias Kachunga, midfielder Aaron Mooy and goalkeeper Danny Ward – in the cup.

Kachunga had started all 26 league and League Cup games before that.

The nine players who have played most in the league were rested so “only five changes” does not tell the true tale.

Leeds, who play on Friday, made eight changes at Cambridge on Monday. Of their 11 players with most league minutes under their belts, only two started the cup tie.

We will never know what Chris Hughton would have done had Albion been drawn away to Middlesbrough or Manchester United.

Sheffield Wednesday used big guns including Barry Bannan at Middlesbrough

Sheffield Wednesday went to Boro with a side showing six changes to their previous league game but with only two of what they call their big-hitters – Kieren Westwood and Sam Hutchinson – being rested.

Reading lost Paul McShane through injury but still made just the two changes at Old Trafford.

Ten of the 11 available players who have had most minutes in the league were out there for kick-off against United.

Reading return to action tomorrow with a home game against a QPR side for whom it appears Kazenga LuaLua may well get an hour.

FA chairman Greg Clarke revealed this week he was “hopeful” over a winter break for the top flight.

He said: “It would be good for player welfare. Tired players getting injured is not morally right.

“You can get to two weeks by getting rid of a few replays, moving a few things to midweek, but medical stats show two weeks is not enough. It has to be three or four weeks to make a difference. That knocks a hell of a hole in the season.

“I think we can win a tournament without a winter break. England probably should be a consistent top-ten performer in the world, occasionally being a top-four performer, becoming a top one or two performer.”

In the meantime, refreshed Championship stars – certainly of Albion, Newcastle and Huddersfield – should take to the field on Saturday appreciating the fact they have rarely had it so good.

Giving cup games a miss is nothing new and Bruno is a great example. The Catalan made his Albion debut in a League Cup tie at Swindon back in August 2012. Since then, he has played 168 Championship games for the Seagulls, of which 163 have been starts, but has had just 63 minutes in the FA Cup, at home to Arsenal two years ago (pictured above). To that Swindon debut he has added a solitary League Cup outing, versus Cheltenham in 2014 when Albion were still trying to decipher Sami Hyypia’s new tactical plan.