CITY striker Dion Dublin has been ruled out of Tuesday night's clash with Watford at Carrow Road after failing to shake-off a hamstring strain.
Dublin limped out of Sunday's 2-2 draw against Ipswich at half time, and was replaced by John Hartson as the Canaries completed a stirring comeback against their Suffolk neighbours.
And at this morning's press conference ahead of the visit by Aidy Boothroyd's table-topping Hornets, manager Glenn Roeder said Dublin would not be fit in time for the game.
"I might as well come clean on it, he wont be fit for tomorrow," said Roeder. "It's as simple as that. I don't know why managers try and hide the obvious, I can't see the value in that. If he's out he's out. Aidy Boothroyd will know that anyway.
"So we've got to go to war with what we've got and Dion wont be one of those unfortunately. We just couldn't take a chance at half-time. He was prepared to go out for another 10 minutes, but being prepared to go out for another 10 minutes is telling you he's not going to last - he's going to breakdown and be out for longer.
"He'd done so well in the first half for us and is so important for the team this year with his experience and general demeanour, his attitude around the place, that if it means missing him for a couple of games we shrug our shoulders and accept that rather than lose him up to six, seven or eight weeks if he's ripped his hamstring, which he would have done had we sent him out."
Dublin had been out of action for a number of weeks with a back injury, and while Roeder did not believe his fractured vertebrae had a direct effect on his hamstring strain, he thought his lack of match action might have done.
"I just think possibly he would have lost a little bit of match fitness by not playing so much in the last few weeks and we've got to make sure that once recovered we put some strength back into his hamstrings."
On the plus side though, Jamie Cureton should be fit. The striker, who notched his fifth of the season with a brilliantly taken equaliser against Town, limped off the pitch with cramp. And Roeder thought he would be ok.
"Jamie's was a little bit of cramp," he said. "In some cases it can be brought on by tension. The game was so important and playing Ipswich probably added a little bit more to that, the tension. And you can get cramp because of that.
"It must have been 30 seconds before he scored he came to the side and said 'I've got a bit of cramp' and I said 'score a goal and you can come off', which he did. He came over again and I said 'you've got to score another one now and you can come off'. But he'll be fine."
