Team News: Assessments to be made ahead of Burnley

Norwich City head coach Dean Smith has provided a squad update following the 2-2 draw with Sheffield United at Bramall Lane.

Norwich City head coach Dean Smith has provided a squad update following the 2-2 draw with Sheffield United at Bramall Lane.

The Canaries are on the road again midweek as they travel north to take on Burnley in a rescheduled fixture.

The original tie, which was down for September 9, was postponed due to the passing of Queen Elizabeth II.

A recent good run has seen Burnley move into third, just a point off top spot.

However, it's a quick turnaround between away games and Smith highlighted some injury worries within the squad.

"A few fitness concerns. We're going to assess a few people today. Isaac (Hayden) and Dimi's (Giannoulis) first starts for a while, other knocks and bruises as well," he said.

"Maybe we could have got Isaac off five or 10 minutes earlier but he kept giving me the thumbs up. He wants to play, he's a bit of a warrior."

"Kieran Dowell is one that we'll assess. He did some bike work but he's struggling to talk.

"We've got Sam McCallum training as well now which is going to be a big boost for us. He's ticked the boxes a lot quicker than we expected with the performance team and they've recommended he comes back training with the team."

Reflecting on the performance against Sheffield United, Smith felt that the lead could have been greater thanks to persistent chances on the counter-attack.

"Watching back, there's a few occasions where we had an overload - 3v2, 5v4 and it was the final ball. The last 20-25 minutes became a basketball game, we could have won it, they could have won it.

"Both of their goals came from throw-ins where we could be in control. We never got our organisation quick enough and well enough. When the opposition have a throw-in, they have a man less on the pitch," he added.

Looking ahead to Tuesday night, and another difficult away game, he emphasised the ever-changing nature of the league table.

And Smith is hoping to add as many points as possible in the run-up to the World Cup break.

"I didn't think we were going to run 20 points clear when we won six in a row. We have played maybe 13/14 games without a recognised left-back and defensive midfielder.

"The table can change within four days in the Championship. We have five games until the World Cup break so there's plenty of points for us to play for."