A NUMBER of senior players are set to remain absent for Norwich City's EFL Cup fourth round tie at Leeds United on Tuesday evening (7:45pm).

The Canaries have been without the services of several of their first team squad in recent times, with Jonny Howson the latest to be ruled out for the foreseeable future with injury.

"It's not any different to what we have been really," City boss Alex Neil told the media at Colney Training Centre on Monday.

"Youssouf Mulumbu is still out, while Matt Jarvis has been long-term. Jonny [Howson], as I said after the game the other day, will be out for a couple of months and Steven Whittaker is still recovering as well."

The loss of Howson, coupled with that of Mulumbu, leaves the Canaries with depleted options in the middle of the park, something Neil recognises.

"It's a blow because at the start of the season everybody deemed we had too many midfield players, and now the one thing we're starting to get short of is midfield players," he added.

"That's due to the fact that we play three central and two wide in terms of midfield players. It's not an area you want to get caught short in, because it's the basis of your team really.

"We've still got enough at the moment, but we're not in as strong a position as we were at the start of the season. At the moment, we're pretty much left with the lads are fit.

"It's always better for the squad and for me though, if you've got everybody available because it drives them and makes my decisions hard."