Philippe Clement is expecting another demanding test when Birmingham City visit Carrow Road on Wednesday evening, with Norwich City looking to build on Saturday's 3-1 victory at Sheffield United.
The Canaries return home under the lights (7.45pm KO), with Clement discussing the need to manage his young squad through a busy schedule, the latest fitness updates and the challenge posed by Birmingham.
Clement says the increasing availability of his players is giving him more options to rotate during a demanding period.
“We still have a lot of work with the squad and with this young squad to get everybody ready for every three days,” he said.
“It's still a little bit juggling with players playing, some players not starting but coming for a certain amount of minutes, maybe some players resting also one moment if they had a block of games.
“So we need to look at all those things also still for the moment.”
The head coach explained that Norwich are using more detailed physical data to help manage workloads and reduce injuries.
“The easiest thing as a manager is to say, 'OK, I pick for that moment my best starting 11,' and if they win, I pick them in the next game again,” he said. “But then you're going to have a lot of injuries during the season also.
“That's why we work with all the objective data that we can find about what's the effect of games, what's the effect of training towards the players.
“We're still building a lot of these players in the squad. We need to look at those things really sincerely, really into detail.”
Clement believes that approach is already making a difference.
“Last season, the situation with almost all the time 12 players out, it's not sustainable,” he said. “We work in a different way now and I'm 200% sure it's going to give another result also in the amount of injured players you're going to have during the season.”
There were no fresh concerns following the Sheffield United victory, while Paris Maghoma has returned to training with the group.
“Everybody came out of the game well, so no problems there,” Clement said. “Paris was today back in training with the group.”
Jovon Makama is also making progress and is now training with the first team.
“He's training with the team now, so that's a positive,” Clement said. “I expect him in the next weeks to get back on the pitch.
“When he can prove himself during the training sessions, then there will be minutes for him because with the others also there will be one moment necessary that they get a breather.
“Otherwise, if you keep on playing with the same every time, they will get injured. That's a guarantee also.”
Clement also stressed why rotation will remain important, even when certain players are performing at a high level.
“If you say, 'Ah, those front three, they are really good,' yes. But if I play them every time, even 60 minutes every game, they will break down along the way,” he said.
“That's why you need also a squad where everybody's ready, physically but also technically, tactically, of course, to do the same things as the others at the same level.”
Birmingham arrive at Carrow Road unbeaten in the Championship so far, and Clement expects another tough challenge.
“They're a really strong squad,” he said. “They have a clear style of play. They invested also a lot the last two years.
“They have a really good squad, good manager, clear style of play. We lost last season two games against them, so it's going to be a big challenge, we know.”
Clement admits that previous defeats only add to his motivation.
“I like challenges in life, so the more challenges the better,” he said. “So it motivates me.”
The head coach also believes Norwich are now in a very different place to when the sides met previously last season.
“The squad is much fitter now than they were in that moment,” he said. “At that moment I think I had two or three training sessions, so the philosophy of playing, all the things you want with and without the ball, was totally not so clear in that moment, which is normal.
“It's clear now for all the players and we're still working on the new players to get them into the story.”
Clement was full of praise for the travelling support at Sheffield United and is hoping for another big atmosphere on Wednesday.
“The fans were again amazing in Sheffield, our away fans,” he said. “We were happy that we could give them something back because they were, of course, disappointed in Stoke.
“And Carrow Road, I want to hear it roar again.
“The crowd really went behind the team against Burnley. I hope that they can push the team from the first second now in this game also against a good opponent.”
