BATMAN, Zorro, the Mask – all will be unveiled in about another fortnight.

That’s how much longer Adam Chicksen must keep playing in a protective face mask.

And also the length of time he will keep getting the predictable jibes from team-mates and fans.

But the City left back brushes off the name-calling as much as any concerns about the state of his left cheekbone after the horrific injury on opening day.

Chicksen laughed: “I’ve had all the nicknames – Zorro, the Mask, Batman. All the ones you’d expect.

“But the novelty wears off after a couple of minutes. At that point they don’t realise you’ve got it on any more.

“I even sometimes say it for them just to get it out the way!

“When you get sweaty, it’s like wearing goggles in swimming and you have to keep adjusting it. But the mask is made so well. It is carbon fibre and ultra strong – I think people underestimate how much of an impact it would have to be to get through that.

“My missus laughed about it at first and gave me a bit of stick as well. But she obviously wants me to be protected so her partner side comes out, telling me ‘make sure you put it on’.

“It’s really tight to my face and I’ve only got to wear it a little while longer. And if I’m playing, I’m happy.”

Chicksen can vividly recall the incident against Blackpool but was unaware of how serious it had looked until the mobile calls mounted up that night asking about his condition.

But he admits the toughest part before his return to action last weekend was being told to sit around and do nothing to allow the bone to heal.

“I’m an active person so it was really hard,” he said. “There are only so many box sets you can watch without going brain dead.

“It was good weather and you want to be out and about. But I’d had concussion as well so had to rest.

“You’ve got to take every positive. It could have been a lot worse and I might have needed surgery.

“It was a clean break, nothing had been dislodged in my cheek, and I just had to give it time to heal.

“Injuries happen. It was a scary one and it was only when I looked back that night, that I got the scale of how bad it was with all the messages asking how I was.

“When you do come out the other side, you pass that moment and forget about the incident after a couple of days.

“As you get older, you realise what your body can put up with and I’ve had worse than a broken cheek bone.”