Team News | Swansea City (H)

Philippe Clement confirmed that Ruairi McConville will be back in contention to start on Saturday against Swansea, whilst he awaits to see whether Ali Ahmed is declared fit enough to return.

Philippe Clement confirmed that Ruairi McConville will be back in contention to start on Saturday against Swansea, whilst he awaits to see whether Ali Ahmed is declared fit enough to return.

The Canaries’ go into Saturday’s clash with Swansea with slim play-off hopes.

“I read somewhere that we had a 0.7% chance [of making the play-offs].

“When we arrived in November, that same computer, I think, gave the club a 37% chance to go down.

“We know what we have to do, and that's the only thing we have in hand, to go full for the three points now this weekend, and then next weekend we will see.

“There's no difference in our approach towards these games. You can change a certain tactic to be sure to get these points in the last games, but that's totally not the case.”

Since Clement’s arrival at Carrow Road in November, no side in the Championship has picked up more wins than his side.

“It’s been great, for sure. But then still, you look back and you think we should have taken more points from some games. It could have been different, but it's not the case, and it's football.

“You will never get a season where you get 100% everything that you deserve.

“The players and the staff, they've done a remarkable job in these five months together already.

“I don't think that anybody in the building, or fan, or journalist, would have put one penny in November on us to be in this situation."

21-year-old Kellen Fisher made his 100th appearance for Norwich in Tuesday night’s win against Derby County.

“When I came in I said, he's gonna struggle against all these beasts, these animals, these physical presences in the league, but he's done brilliantly.

“I have to say that Fish is one of the big surprises for me, how he’s played. The way he’s behaved, how brave he is on the ball. He's a really good player on the ball.

“He has played several positions also, and he adapts really fast.

“Also in the duels, how he competes with people who are double the size and double his weight, but he wins those duels.

“I've been really impressed with him the last couple of months and we're going to keep on pushing him to give him a really good career, and I hope as long as possible here as well.”

Vítor Matos’ Swansea side arrive at Carrow Road on Saturday having won 13 of their last 28 games.

“It’s two teams that like to have the ball. Two teams who like to score goals, who like to attack.

“Two teams who are aggressive in pressing.

“On the ball, they’re in the top three of the Championship. They're well structured, they have clear ideas and really good players on the ball. They have four or five playmakers in the team, so it's going to be a big challenge to play.

“If I was a neutral fan and have to pick out one game to watch, I would pick this game."

Northern Ireland centre half Ruairi McConville is back in contention to start on Saturday, having pulled out of Tuesday night’s win against Derby in the warm-up.

“Ruairi will be back, he was sick, but he's back in with the squad.

“Ali [Ahmed] will be back with the squad if he doesn’t get a reaction after today.

“Oscar [Schwartau] is not yet back.

“It's been a good training week. Everybody's been working hard and there’s full focus on this game."

Long-term absentees Jovon Makama and Papa Diallo are back on the grass, however won’t be available for the Canaries’ next two games.

“No, I don't they’ll be back, but it depends how long our season will last. So let's wait and see.

“They've been out a long time, but they are back on the grass, doing individual things, but they're not yet in training with, with the group.

“Lucien [Mahovo] is training with the team now, but he comes back from a long time, so we need to be smart with decisions when we bring these guys back”