Head coach Dean Smith confirmed that it will be a balancing act in terms of picking his starting XI for Sunday’s Emirates FA Cup match with Charlton Athletic.
Norwich City welcome back Milot Rashica, Teemu Pukki, Tim Krul, Grant Hanley, Max Aarons and Todd Cantwell back into the matchday squad after all were ruled out over the Christmas period through injury and illness.
However, with some having not played since early December and others in the team having played over the Christmas period, but lacked match minutes before then, Dean said it will be a tough task to get the selection correct with crucial Premier League games against West Ham United and Everton just around the corner.
“We have got players who need minutes before we go into big games against West Ham United and Everton,” he said. “It is finding that balancing act, in terms of who needs what in terms of getting ready for West Ham and at the same time not taking this game lightly because Charlton will be going all out to get a scalp and we have to make sure they don’t do that.
“We will be respectful. We have got to concentrate on ourselves rather than Charlton. We believe we have got enough quality within the squad to go and win this game, but we have to be respectful and make sure we are 100 per cent in terms of what we do in the game.”
Norwich go into the game on the back of five defeats, with performances against Aston Villa, Arsenal and Crystal Palace – when illness and injury within the squad was at its worse – coming in for criticism.
Dean says he has had to reflect on those displays and put them into perspective and that the players, going into an FA Cup match, are excited about the prospect of doing well in the competition.
“It has been a real tough Christmas period,” he said. “We played really well against Manchester United and then we have had three poor results over Christmas. Sometimes I have to go and reflect on it and two words came to mind: perspective and context.
“I looked at Liverpool last year and they lost Alisson, Van Dijk and Gomez and slipped out of the top four for a period. We have had 10 players out and seven or eight of them are typical starters for us and have been since they have been at the club.
“So, for me it has been disappointing, but sometimes you have to put it into perspective.”
“I am a bit of a traditionalist; I like the FA Cup,” he added. “These players are only given three opportunities to win something in a season – the EFL Cup, the FA Cup and the Premier League. It is very unlikely for us to be challenging for the Premier League title so why not go all out and try and do well in the FA Cup? We are looking forward to the game and the challenge.”