Head coach Daniel Farke is confident Norwich can cover for injured centre-back Ben Godfrey – and revealed leading scorer Teemu Pukki will be fit for the hectic festive schedule.
England Under-21 international Godfrey suffered a knee injury during last weekend’s 1-1 draw at Leicester, but will not need an operation.
Finland frontman Pukki, meanwhile, has shaken off a toe problem, which turned out to be nothing more severe than bruising rather than a fracture as was first feared.
With Norwich battling for points at the wrong end of the table, Farke hopes the squad can all pull together as they prepare for Saturday’s visit of Wolves.
“We have some sad news. Ben has a LCL (lateral collateral ligament) tear, so no surgery is required, but he will be out until February,” Farke said.
“It was painful for Ben to stay on at Leicester and he mentioned that it didn’t feel stable, but he delivered one of his best performances, so it was a shock to discover the extent of the injury.”
Farke hopes that with Scotland Grant Hanley stepping up his own rehabilitation after a groin problem and cover being provided by defensive midfielders, Norwich can regroup.
“Grant Hanley has been back in team training for a while, so he is an option for us, but it is not ideal as he has been out for three and a half months,” Farke said at a press conference reported by the club.
“We also have Alex Tettey and Ibrahim Amadou who can play there.
“We could change the formation, but whoever is the solution they will be desperate to deliver in a key role next to Christoph Zimmermann.”
There was better news on forward Pukki, who scored the opening goal at the King Power Stadium last weekend to take his Premier League tally to nine.
“Teemu is available. The toe wasn’t broken, it was just bruised,” Farke said. “It was painful for him, but the swelling has gone down.”
The Norwich boss added: “I know how capable and full of potential Teemu is.
“He has proved that over a long time, so I’m happy he’s able to deliver on a weekly basis.”
Farke hopes Norwich can build on the hard-earned point at Leicester to drag themselves out of the bottom three over the final league games of 2019.
“All our performances over the last few weeks were pretty good. I trust my lads and I think we are in a good position to have plenty of games,” the German said.
“We had a brilliant win at Goodison Park and a draw at Leicester. We have to pick points wherever we play – and we have three chances in the next fortnight to do that.”
Farke added: “Wolves are dangerous on the counters and often defend in 5-4-1.
“They transition well, so it is important for us to be good in possession and avoid giving the ball away easily.”
