Boss says reinforcements have set the Canaries up nicely
NEIL Adams says the business done during the transfer window means Norwich City are well-equipped to deal with their busy fixture schedule, resuming this Saturday at Cardiff City (3pm).The Canaries brought in ten players in total, with Adams deepening his resources in all departments.
âWe play Saturday-Tuesday for the next three weeks, and with games coming thick and fast youâre going to pick up an injury or two or maybe a suspension,â he told Norwich City TV.
âIf we want to be competing at the top of the table, we need to make sure we donât have three or four injuries that really hurt is and then youâre not able to field what you feel is a strong enough squad to compete in this division.
âWith the games coming up itâs even more important to be pleased with the business we did in the transfer window.â
Cityâs boss delivered his latest injury bulletin ahead of the trip to South Wales.
âVadis (Odjidja-Ofoe) had a slight thigh strain when he joined us, but heâs trained fine so weâre hopeful heâll be able to join the squad for the first time,â he revealed.
âThere are no problems with Ignasi (Miquel) and Jos (Hooiveld); theyâve trained with us as normal and they will go to Cardiff as well, so good news on them.
âGary (Hooper) has trained with us partly this week so is obviously very close; Jonny (Howson) will start training with the group next week hopefully. Weâre really pleased with those two; theyâve made a little bit quicker progress than thought, so hopefully theyâre very close now to being back with us.
âWeâve just got to check one or two of the international players. Weâre hoping, fingers crossed, that weâve got more or less everybody back, or if not then certainly when Jonny and Gary are back with us very soon.â
Ole Gunnar Solskjaerâs Bluebirds have lost just once in the league so far this season, triumphing in both of their home matches, but that doesnât lessen the Canariesâ ambition to win according to Adams.
âIâve said all the time, there are no secrets. Anybody watching us, looking to see what weâre trying to do â it will be the same as every game, weâll look to try and win it,â he added.
âItâs a very tough one of course, particularly with them being at home. Theyâre no different from anyone else, theyâre going to want to come at us and try and win the game.
âThere will no difference in the strategy, of course weâll look at Cardiff but the aim is to go down to Wales and come back with three points.â
City recorded their first away victory of 2014 at East Anglian rivals Ipswich Town, and their manager says that result will improve their confidence heading to Cardiff.
âIt was good to go there and be able to say âif we can win there, we can anywhereâ. We felt we were really in control that game,â he explained.
âThere will be other teams that will pose us different problems, but the confidence and spirit weâve got in the group at the minute is excellent, so obviously weâre confident going into games.
âWe have two away games, and weâre looking at going into those to try and win them before we get back to Carrow Road. Itâs a good start up to the international break, but itâs important now that we keep that going.â