Johannes Hoff Thorup, the head coach of Norwich City, has disclosed that a few players may be ill and miss Saturday’s match against Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road.
Norwich has had a successful few weeks after going seven games without a victory, winning both of their most recent games handily.
The Canaries defeated Luton Town 4-2 at Carrow Road on Saturday after thrashing Plymouth Argyle 6-1. Although the Hatters made them work hard, Ante Crnac’s double and strikes from Emiliano Marcondes and Borja Sainz secured all three points.
After three games without a loss, Norwich has climbed back up to ninth place and is just five points off of the play-off spots after their dismal performance in October and November caused them to fall down the table.
Although they are still in the relegation zone, Marti Cifuentes’ team has shown signs of improvement in recent weeks, and the Canaries will be hoping to win against struggling QPR, who have not won at home this season.
Norwich City team news is provided by Johannes Hoff Thorup.
Although Thorup had less encouraging news regarding midfielder Liam Gibbs and forward Josh Sargent, he acknowledged that his team has been plagued by illness ahead of the trip to Loftus Road. He also announced that defender Jose Cordoba should be available for the match against QPR after returning to training.
Thorup said, “Jose Cordoba trained all week, so it’s looking good,” on the official club website.
“We may anticipate eight to ten weeks for Liam Gibbs, but the surgery went smoothly.
“Josh Sargent’s surgery went well, and he’s doing well, but in all likelihood, we won’t see him again until the New Year.
“He’s in a good mood and was running a little earlier, but we need to exercise caution.
“We have made an effort to keep the players away from the virus, but we must exercise caution because there are certain illnesses in the group. We have conducted our team meetings somewhat differently, putting a little more distance between us.
“There might be problems with Saturday’s team selections. While we sent some players home to rest, the majority of the players appear to be doing well and are able to workout.”
Norwich City shouldn’t undervalue QPR.
Norwich enters the match on Saturday as the clear favourite, especially following their decisive wins in their previous two games, given QPR’s terrible home record and low league standing.
The Canaries shouldn’t undervalue the R’s, though, as they have won their previous three games and demonstrated in their most recent 0-0 stalemate against Watford that they are more than capable of battling with the elite teams in the division.
Thorup’s team will need to perform at their peak to overcome a resolute Hoops defence, and if they are missing players due to illness, it might be a closer game than many anticipate. Norwich leads the Championship in goals scored with 35, but QPR has kept four clean sheets in their last seven games.
