Norwich City: Ashley Barnes gloomy injury update from Thorup.
Ashley Barnes is no nearer a Norwich City return, with head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup unable to rule out more surgery for the experienced striker.
Barnes is yet to feature for the Dane, after he had to pause his comeback from a calf-related issue that required an operation following the club’s Championship play-off semi-final, second leg defeat to Leeds in May.
Ahead of Tuesday’s latest showdown against the Whites, Thorup confirmed Barnes is now back in a protective boot.
“I think it’s mostly for him frustrating, because he wants to be around the group and a part of the group, and we try to integrate him as much as possible,” said the City boss. “He’s a great person for the changing room, and, you know, he’s trying to engage as much as possible.
“I think for him, it’s a little bit of a tough moment, because it is more than what we expected and also with this setback, we cannot really give him a return to play date. That’s sometimes even more frustrating that you don’t know, ‘Okay, it’s this day, or it’s this month, or it’s within four weeks’. We cannot really say.
“It’s three weeks in a boot, and then we have to assess him after that and decide whether it could be surgery or we try again one more time. It’s the Achilles he struggled with last season.
“I think he did everything he could to participate in the last game of last season, and then had to deal with the consequences. We do everything we can to support him. But he’s, of course, feeling a little frustrated.”
Midfield duo Jacob Sorensen (foot) and Christian Fassnacht (Achilles) are back on the grass running and set to re-join team training the other side of the upcoming international break.
Thorup confirmed at Colney on Monday only Ben Chrisene (concussion protocol) is absent for Tuesday’s Carrow Road reunion with Daniel Farke from those on duty against Derby last weekend. The Dane indicated he is unlikely to shuffle his pack ahead of a home double header this week against Leeds, and Hull on Saturday.
“Of course we have to respect first Leeds and then Hull,” he said. “We have to do everything we can to make sure that all the players we have available are ready for the game. And I think it’s mostly the third game, when you play three games in a week like this, where you have to think about some rotation, some changes.
“Most players can play Saturday and Tuesday, and they should be able to do that. I think also with the changes that we can do they give us something different. We are covered more or less on all the positions. So that would be a puzzle for us to do after the Leeds game.”
