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Daniel Farke is about to speak to the media ahead of tomorrow's clash with Derby County at Carrow Road. We can expect some injury updates from the City Head Coach and reflection on Wednesday's unbelievable draw.

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DF: Emi [Buendia] will be out for thre or four weeks with a ligament injury. He doesn't need surgery. Moritz [Leitner] is five or six days into his rehab. I think they are both expected to return at the end of January.

It's far from ideal as they are both crucial for our performance and our rhythm.
Jamal Lewis is also out with a ligament injury and we will be without him for three games.
We hope Christoph Zimmermmann is back, he had a rest day at home yesterday and if he can train today he will be available for tomorrow.

DF: We have different options [without Jamal]. One is to change the system, the other is that Marco Stiepermann is a left-footed player and can play in this role, but we get the feeling he is crucial where he is at the moment. We have Ivo Pinto, Felix Passlack, Ben Godfrey, so there are options. Sometimes during the season you have to handle difficult situations and right now we have that, but we will try to handle it.

DF: We totally trust this group of players and in the second half of the season some times it's better to work with a smaller group for togetherness. We expect Jamal to be back in the middle of January, so it doesn't make sense to bring someone new in. They will need time to adapt to the Club and the group, and then Jamal will be available again.
I don't think we have any pressure because we have Max, Ivo who can play there and other options.

DF: There is a big load at the moment and it's not ideal when you have key players injured as you want to be able to give players invovled in the recent weeks a break. But when you have to make so many chances it is not healthy for the sqaud. I was a bit concerned for Timm [Klose] because the plan was to give him 25 minutes after being back from injury, but he had to start and he was crucial.

DF: Kenny McLean has been back in team training for two weeks and made two appearances for the Under-23s. In my plans I see him back in January, perhaps a cup game, as he needs a bit more time. Louis Thompson and Carlton Morris are back on the pitch but not in team training. They are integrated in the warm up and passing exercises. With Louis we have to be careful with his shoulder as it's not 100% perfect, but hopefully they will be back in training soon.

DF: We have to speak about his consistency [Max Aarons] and this is outstanding for a young player. Young players have to learn lessons and even experienced players are there with the loss of the ball. It's probably his first remarkable error. We are always honest in the dressing room and we spoke about the fact it was not ideal, but I want my players to be brave and find solutions. Max in the recent weeks, one of his biggest strengths was under pressure he was able to keep the ball. I don't want to criticise him too much when he makes a mistake, but of course he has to learn not to take too much risk in your own box.

DF: When other clubs are interested in our young players it means we are doing something right with them and they are performing on a quality level. I don't like to praise the young lads too much because I want them to keep both feet on the ground, and in our first team we not only want to develop their skills but their personality. It's so important not to lose focus and all our players are there with a brilliant attitude and know they have to work. I'm not scared at all that they are distracted.

DF: It's a sign of how close the Championship is. The pressure is a bit more on them because they are three games without a win and we are above them at the moment in the table. They have so much quality, so much experience and also so much potential. Frank [Lampard] played on a top level and was so successful in his career, I think he is doing a great job in his first year making a career on this level.

DF: I think we are not the favourite in this game, even though we are above them. We have to play without several key players who had such a big impact on our unbeaten run in recent weeks. We have our unity, we have Carrow Road, our spirit and togetherness. We will be rebellious again.

DF: Both teams are really strong, have good coaches and dominate the ball. If we can repeat our performance against Nottingham it will be good, but I think it will be a tougher game because of our personal terms.
I expect a similar game in that small situations can be determining and we have to be awake. We also have to use our situations. I hope our supporters will be there again with this unity at Carrow Road and anything is possible.

DF: When you look at the table for the whole year we won many points in January at the start of the year and hopefully it ends the same and we get three points. I still think we have the chance to be at the top of the year table, it would be a nice reward. But even more important will be how we finish the season table. But it's an important game and we want to finish strong and with a successful result.

DF: Each coach has his own situation, there is not more pressure because he is Frank Lampard. It's just a sign how big the club of Derby is and how high the possibilites are. They have been able to spend lots of money in the recent years. For me he is doing a fantastic job, they play in their style and dominate the games.

DF: Max [Aarons] signed a new contract a few weeks ago because he buys into our philosophy and our idea of how we want to develop him. You have to prove your quality over long-term and that's what Max is doing for us. He can grow with us. I think it's the right place to be for Max and I'm pretty confident our supporters can enjoy his way of playing for pretty long.

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That's all from Daniel here, keep an eye on canaries.co.uk for more news throughout the day

Posted By: DrDublin, Dec 28, 13:10:13