Team News | No timescale on McConville return

Norwich City head Phillipe Clement confirmed that there is no timescale on Ruairi McConville's return, after the defender missed Wednesday night's win over Sheffield United.

Norwich City head Phillipe Clement confirmed that there is no timescale on Ruairi McConville's return, after the defender missed Wednesday night's win over Sheffield United.

The Belgian spoke to the local media ahead of tomorrow's Sky Bet Championship fixture against Preston North End, confirming that Daniel Grimshaw will also miss out.

"No timescale on Ruairi McConville or Daniel Grimshaw yet. I'm happy that everybody came well out of the Sheffield United game, we had a good session today and ready for the game tomorrow. 

"With Lucien Mahovo, he's still doing his rehab and he's not out yet on the pitch, so it will still take a while."

Clement also spoke about the victory over Sheffield United on Wednesday night.

"We started the game in the first few minutes okay, but then suddenly became sloppy. They were pressing us, they were aggressive, but we were not tidy enough on the ball.

"And because of that, Sheffield United came into the game. They could take these moments to make transitions. They didn't create really big chances. Then they make the goal also where we were sloppy, losing the ball in the back and getting a transition moment.

"The good thing is that it was like a wake up call, because the team could step up and become better. We became more dominant on the ball, creating the chances to come back. We spoke during half-time that they had to be calmer and better on the ball.

"From that moment in the second-half, I think we were really dominant in the way we want to see football. And the team showed really good quality in the choice that they made on the pitch, also in our physicality.

"I think that's also really important going forward, that we want to create a team that's always imposing themselves, not only technically, but also physically. And that's getting better and better."

The head coach then spoke about tomorrow's opponents Preston and the threats they will pose.

"Every game is a fight for everybody. There's nobody going into a game thinking this one we're going to win. It's a really tough fight and and everybody needs to be on their toes to to get the three points. That's also what's so nice about this league, that you don't have much difference between the teams and there's a lot of competition. I think it's a good thing for fans and for everybody watching the Championship that there's always suspense. 

"They're very physical, very direct. You need to be really strong in the duels against them. It's going to be a massive challenge again at Carrow Road. I count on our fans. They've seen once again that this team can respond after going behind or after an upset in a negative way. It's important that the fans keep on pushing the team positively like they've been doing the last couple of weeks."