Head coach Daniel Farke says he may be forced into making more changes than he would normally like to for a cup match when Norwich City face AFC Bournemouth tomorrow night.
The two teams meet at Carrow Road in the second round of the Carabao Cup and while Daniel Farke says he values the importance for cup competitions, he will need to rest some players, who haven’t had a full pre-season, as well as give some game time to other squad members who are not ready for Premier League action yet.
“I am a deep believer in cup competitions and we want to win and progress to the next round,” said Daniel. “We want to win the game and each and every win helps us. It is good for the self-confidence, but I will perhaps rotate a bit more than I would normally do for a cup game. I will do this for two reasons. One we have a deep squad and I want to use this and two we had a disruptive pre-season. When you don't have a proper pre-season, to play every three or four days is a bit difficult.
"You need more time to recover and to find their rhythm. It will be too big of an ask, to ask those players to play tomorrow. I think we have to take the risk, to make a few more changes than we would like.”
That means a few of the new signings could be in line for their first starts for the club, including Josh Sargent, Christos Tzolis and Brandon Williams. Christos is an 18-year-old player who joined the club from Greek side PAOK. He has yet to feature for Norwich, but the fans are excited about his potential, as is Daniel.
“I am excited too,” said Daniel. "He is an unbelievable interesting player. He has the potential to be one day the best wingers in the world. There are many skills that we like about him but it is never a guarantee. We have to be careful with him. Sometimes they need time to adapt. Christos is a project that helps us in mid and long term. I don't put too much pressure or too much expectation on him. It could be that he is involved in a few minutes tomorrow.
"I have to be careful because the mood (of the fans) can change very quickly. I have to be careful when I bring a player in, because if he is not ready or he is not sharp, people can be on his shoulder. This is okay for a player like Tim Krul or Grant Hanley because they can handle it, but it is more difficult for a younger player.”
Asked if Brandon Williams could feature in tomorrow’s game, having signed on loan from Manchester United today, Daniel Farke said that he didn’t think it would be a problem to register him in time for the game. Speaking about the player himself, he added: "We are convinced of his potential and his bravery. We are convinced that he will help us in this position, left back, because we only have one natural player in this position in Dimitris Giannoulis, but there is no guarantee because there is competition in these places."