CITY boss Paul Lambert is hoping to have right-back Jon Otsemobor back in contention for Monday night's trip to Elland Road to face league leaders Leeds United.
The former Liverpool trainee sustained a hamstring injury against Gillingham in the league three weeks ago and hasn't played since.
Returning to the fold after missing the away win at Carlisle United due to international duties are goalkeeper Declan Rudd and midfielder Stephen Hughes. Rudd was away in Slovenia with England Under-19s and Hughes won his first senior cap for Scotland in the 2-0 defeat to Japan in Yokohama.
Meanwhile, defenders Michael Spillane (hamstring) and Michael Nelson (ankle) remain sidelined as does midfielder Owain Tudur Jones (calf).
City boss Paul Lambert commented: "Hopefully Jon Otsemobor will come back from his injury although he's about the only one who maybe will.
"Michael Spillane is still struggling - he's not ready. Matty Gill played for the Reserves last night and came through 45 minutes, which is pleasing, and Owain (Tudur Jones) is still out as well, so there's one or two still carrying knocks."
Asked if the Canaries' trip to Elland Road represented his toughest test so far as Norwich boss, he replied: "I think every game's tough, I don't single this one out or that one out as being especially difficult, I just think every game in our league is really hard whether it's Wycombe or Gillingham or Charlton or Leeds.
"Every opponent has got their own strengths and their own weaknesses and it's up to us to exploit what we think Leeds' weaknesses are.
"We'll go there and try to win. We're playing really well at the minute and if we go there and play the way we have been then we'll be right in the game. We'll need to go there and defend as everybody knows we're up against the league leaders so we've got to defend strongly.
"But we'll go and play the way we know we can and we'll have a terrific following up there ourselves, so we're not going to go up there and sit back and wait to see what happens - we're going to go up there and try to win."
Lambert has thrown a number of City's Academy products into the fray this season and says he has no qualms about selecting them again for Monday's live Sky TV clash, even though there is set to be a bumper crowd for the clash.
He commented: "The young lads have played in front of crowds of 25,000 at Carrow Road every other week, so do I have any problem with playing the youngsters in front of large crowds? No, because they've shown me already that they can."
Leeds won all eight of their opening competitive fixtures and have lost only once this season - to Premiership giants Liverpool in the Carling Cup. Lambert was asked if that made it a good or a bad time for his side to put that undefeated record to the test.
"You get nothing in October," he replied. "It's May that the prizes are handed out and we're hoping to be there or thereabouts," he replied. "If we're not then it won't be for lack of trying but at this moment in time we will go up to Elland Road and try and win."
Jermaine Beckford is a goal machine for Leeds having scored 34 goals in all competitions last season for United - and with seven already to his name during this campaign, reporters asked if the Norwich defence would have to be especially on their guard to neutralise his threat.
Lambert said: "The defence at the minute has been great so the lads who will be playing in there won't have any fear. You don't have any fear whoever you're playing against as long as you believe that your belief is stronger than his and that you're going to win the individual battle then you'll be right in it. Beckford has done great as have a number of them but it's not a game I'm going to go into with any fear factor."
With recent speculation linking the Canaries to a move for Exeter defender Danny Seaborne, the Canary boss said finances had put the bid on hold for now:
"We're trying as we've said before, but I hope people don't think the Club is riddled with money because it's not. It's taken a little bit of a battering with the use of the loan system and being relegated and things like that go against you, so the finances are not as good as maybe some people would like to think."
Previously City have used the loan system heavily, a factor many argue contributed to relegation from the Championship last season. Although the current City boss wouldn't rule out judicious use of the loan market if necessary, he once again underlined his reticence to rely on loans too heavily:
"I don't dismiss it but I just think if you keep on going down the road that the Club's been going down in the last season or so, with 17 or whatever coming in, it's basically dead money. The lads go back and as I've said before, they won't necessarily really care about what's happened to Norwich City.
"What I don't want to do is to put the Club in the position where it's been previously. The young lads in the team at the minute have come through the ranks and that might help on that score. You need your own players and you need hungry lads in here to give us a hand and we'll try and get them in."
With Luke Daley being handed a contract until at least 2012 this week, there are encouraging signs of a solid youth policy countering the need to rely on loan signings, said Lambert.
"I think it's important that the Club has an identity to it. The young kids coming through the ranks, there's not just Luke there's Tom Adeyemi, there's Declan Rudd, there's Korey, so if the young kids keep learning they've got a chance to do something in professional football. As long as they don't get side-tracked or go big-headed or anything like that they'll be fine.
"They've got a chance - and if we can help them along the way then this club could potentially have a really good nucleus of kids coming through."
Tickets are available for Monday's League One fixture against Leeds United.
