Press news in....

Daniel Farke addresses the media ahead of Norwich City v Leicester City. Updates to come from 1.15pm.
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DF: It's the end of the season for Sam Byram and doesn't look great for Onel Hernandez. He had surgery on his knee and will be out for at least eight weeks.

DF: He could be back for the last three weeks but we have to wait to see how it develops. He missed three months at the start of the season when he slipped down the stairs and it's the same injury.

DF: Christoph Zimmermann is not available with his muscle strain.

DF: Timm Klose is not too far away from returning to team training and I hope soon we can integrate him into that.

DF: It's good for the mood in the dressing room that he is back.

DF: I always concentrate on the players who are available. We need a bit of luck in terms of injuries, but each club has to handle them. Tomorrow will be the 28th game and we only had three fit centre-backs in two games - against Bournemouth and Liverpool.

DF: We still have to be solid and finish games with clean sheets. The injuries to Byram and Zimmermann didn't help us at Wolves. We had to be self critical.

DF: We have to concentrate on the things we can influence, but we can't expect miracles when we're in such a difficult situation. A player can't save the world alone after being out for ten weeks.

DF: It's important to be honest. In 95% of my comments about Emi I praised him. He was in fansastic shape in December but sadly had an injury and then struggled a bit to come back to 100%. That's why he hasn't played every minute.

DF: Our young players get lots of praise and they deserve it, but it's important to speak about how to develop them. Emi has to add a few goals and work on his tactical discipline. That's quite normal.

DF: It's the same for Cantwell, Aarons and Godfrey. It's not about their points on FIFA or Football Manager, I'm here to develop players and Emi is not out of favour at all.

DF: Everyone knows how much I like Emi and backed him, I've defended him when he's made mistakes. Sometimes he doesn't show great reactions after losing the ball, but I always try to protect my players. They are not only in my head, but also in my heart.

DF: We have one win from our last six so we're not favourites. They have the third best away record and have quality players and a quality manager. The title is done but they have a chance to be runner-up or at least in the Champions League.

DF: It's a sign of how close the league is that they are not able to win each game. We were able to get a draw at Leicester because everyone can get points against everyone, so that's the plan for tomorrow.

DF: I think when Leicester survived relegation the coach was sacked! I'll have to be careful. But everyone was writing them off then they had seven wins from the last ten, so everything is possible. We weren't on our top level in the last game, so it's more important to focus on being at the top of our game.

DF: I want us to always leave our heart on the pitch and show great unity and tactically smart behaviour. Then everyone can say we tried everything.

DF: James Maddison is still popular here because his behaviour was always top class. For such a young player, he was humble and showed his pride to wear the yellow shirt. He's a top class player and will play an important role for the Three Lions because he has so many skills.

DF: It's always great to see James because I love this guy, but we want to make his life as difficult as possible during the game.

DF: I remember in pre-season when James had cramp and wanted to stop but I told him to go further on. We live in a society where young players are praised that much and that early after one good game. Quality is defined over a long-term period.

DF: As a young player you need the backing of your coach. I don't know any coach who would say they don't believe in young players. The most important thing is that you're not scared to play them ahead of some big names.

DF: You also have to be strict with them. They will only develop if they train hard and stay humble. The best players in the world let their teammates shine. It's not just all about them.

DF: Leicester are good in their pressing but we were capable of bypassing that in December. They like to overload the centre, so we have to be compact to take the key players out of the game.

DF: I expect a different game from a tactical approach. They play slightly different now but the key topics are similar.

DF: It's always difficult to choose who to play, especially when players are performing in training. Mario and Mo haven't been involved much recently, nor have Tom or Marco. I'm always tempted to bring them in but I have to find the right balance in every game.

DF: We can't dominate possession as much as we did last season, so it's important to have solidity and physical strength in the middle. We're a bit too soft sometimes and concede many goals, but in the last few weeks we were more solid.

DF: We always have players on the pitch who can have a moment of magic - perhaps more offensive players in the team than other teams in the relegation battle.

DF: I'm totally happy with Ondrej. I know he wasn't at the top level in the last game but we weren't as a team. He covered the highest distance in every game so he has an unbelievable workload. No other player in the league covers more or less 13km per game like he does.

DF: He was crucial against Bournemouth and for our penalty at Spurs. At Wolves I wasn't 100% happy with his influence because you need to add end product. Two assists so far is not bad. He's shown a great mentality but there's more to come because I know how much of a genius he can be with goals and assists.

DF: I always want my players to be solid and when we have to defend we do, like we did against Leicester before.

DF: Emi's are fantastic individual statistics but it's most important to be effective as a team. It's normal to have topics to improve on as a young player.

DF: No player is on the team sheet just because they have top class statistics.

DF: Many agents sent me the best defenders in the Championship because of averages of tackles and clearances. Do you know where they played? For Bolton and the teams that were relegated. Statistics aren't always important.

DF: Emi showed a great reaction at the beginning of the season when he came back into the team. He's emotional but he knows what he has to do to improve.

DF: Sadly you can't replicate a situation of scoring in front of 30,000 at the training pitch against Virgil Van Dijk, but we speak a lot about the mental preparation you need to have to be able to use your chances.

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That's all from the boss this afternoon. Thanks for following today's live blog!

Posted By: DrDublin on February 27th 2020 at 13:53:59

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