City prepare to face Boro at Colney
NORWICH City's Development Squad manager Dmitri Halajko says his side can bounce back when they host Middlesbrough at Colney in the Barclays Under-21 Premier League on Tuesday (1pm).
The Canaries have suffered five straight defeats, but Halajko can see the positives in the experience gained by his extremely youthful charges, and is relishing the return of Cameron Norman.
"Cameron's been on loan at Woking but is back for this one-off game, which gives us another defender as we’ve got five or six of our usual line-up injured," he told canaries.co.uk.
"We’ve got some good options going forwards but it’s the defence which is the area we’re struggling with so hopefully Cameron can come and strengthen that."
City's Under-21s exited the Barclays Premier League Cup at the hands of Brighton last Thursday, having been forced by injuries to field a rotated side.
The Club sees benefits from such experiences according to Halajko however, as the coach added: "Our team had five Under-18s and another who was an Under-16, so we expect that to accelerate their learning.
"Nobody has come in and looked massively miles away from the standard. There are always little instances where they get caught out by a more streetwise pro, but you’ve got to be playing in that arena to understand those things.
"They haven't looked out of place; sometimes a lack of experience has cost us, but we want them to be able to learn from that."
CANARIES' FORM
L - 4-1 v Brighton (A) 12/11/2015 - Barclays U21s Premier League Cup
L - 1-0 v Manchester City (A) 08/11/2015 - Barclays U21s Premier League
L - 2-0 v Reading (A) 26/10/2015 - Barclays U21s Premier League
L - 2-1 v Leicester City (A) 20/10/2015 - Premier League International Cup
L - 2-3 v Tottenham (H) 15/10/2015 - Barclays U21s Premier League
LAST NORWICH CITY U21s XI (vs Brighton & Hove Albion)
Killip (c); McGrandles, Efete, Ellesley, Lewis; Grant; Eaton-Collins, Cantwell (McIntosh, 62), King (Ashley-Seal, 62), Middleton (Couzens, 84); Loza. Subs not used: Oxborough (GK), Wallis.
The Canaries have suffered five straight defeats, but Halajko can see the positives in the experience gained by his extremely youthful charges, and is relishing the return of Cameron Norman.
"Cameron's been on loan at Woking but is back for this one-off game, which gives us another defender as we’ve got five or six of our usual line-up injured," he told canaries.co.uk.
"We’ve got some good options going forwards but it’s the defence which is the area we’re struggling with so hopefully Cameron can come and strengthen that."
City's Under-21s exited the Barclays Premier League Cup at the hands of Brighton last Thursday, having been forced by injuries to field a rotated side.
The Club sees benefits from such experiences according to Halajko however, as the coach added: "Our team had five Under-18s and another who was an Under-16, so we expect that to accelerate their learning.
"Nobody has come in and looked massively miles away from the standard. There are always little instances where they get caught out by a more streetwise pro, but you’ve got to be playing in that arena to understand those things.
"They haven't looked out of place; sometimes a lack of experience has cost us, but we want them to be able to learn from that."
CANARIES' FORM
L - 4-1 v Brighton (A) 12/11/2015 - Barclays U21s Premier League Cup
L - 1-0 v Manchester City (A) 08/11/2015 - Barclays U21s Premier League
L - 2-0 v Reading (A) 26/10/2015 - Barclays U21s Premier League
L - 2-1 v Leicester City (A) 20/10/2015 - Premier League International Cup
L - 2-3 v Tottenham (H) 15/10/2015 - Barclays U21s Premier League
LAST NORWICH CITY U21s XI (vs Brighton & Hove Albion)
Killip (c); McGrandles, Efete, Ellesley, Lewis; Grant; Eaton-Collins, Cantwell (McIntosh, 62), King (Ashley-Seal, 62), Middleton (Couzens, 84); Loza. Subs not used: Oxborough (GK), Wallis.