Press news in...

We have arrived at Colney Training Centre where Daniel Farke will soon be speaking to the media ahead of tomorrow's FA Cup third round match against Portsmouth.

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DF: The rehab of Moritz Leitner is going well. We expect him to be back end of January.
Emi Buendia is a bit ahead of his plans so he could return a bit earlier. We have had good news with Jamal Lewis and he will be available in the next week as well as Alex Tettey.
Marco Stiepermann has a small muscle strain but the West
Brom game could be a bit quick. We hope to have him back for Birmingham.

DF: It was a concern that we had these injuries, but a bit of good news with Jamal and Alex.
I am not so much focussed on next week, the cup game has importance too so we are focussed on tomorrow.

DF: My attitude is that the cup competition has high importance. There are a few injuries so for that we will have to have a few more changes than we normally have. I usually only like two or three changes but I guess we will have more tomorrow. It's also important that players who have been out with long injuries get some game time. We want to go into the next round so we will try to combine all three topics. I think we will have to make some smart decisions.

DF: There is no guarantee that if we rest all the players it will mean unbelievable success in the league and after it we have a normal week. Some players have to keep in their rhythm so we will try to be there with a strong starting line-up and a good performance.

DF: I am pretty sure Portsmouth will come with a strong starting line-up as that is what they did in the last rounds. I expect a game completely on our level because they have big opportunities and are on a brilliant role. It's a big stage for them because they want to be back in the Championship next season. They know they can be in the spotlight if they are there with a good performance.
We know it will be tricky for us because we will have several changes and it is difficult to compete against a side which is in its rhythm.

DF: You never know what happens in this business but I'm pretty sure it will be quiet as we have no big injury problems and expect Jamal, Alex, Mortiz, Emi and Marco to be back soon. We still have players like Kenny McLean who are coming back from a long rehab and Grant Hanley so I expect a quiet period.

DF: Jordan Rhodes is available to play tomorrow. Steve Bruce is an experience coach and knows how helpful Jordan could be on this level, so it could be that they want him to return, but Jordan committed to us for the whole year and we don't want to let him go.

DF: We get the feeling Kenny is prepared. He looked sharp in the last 10 days training and it is an opportunity for him tomorrow. He will be on the teamsheet and could get some minutes.

DF: It's a tricky situation for Felix because when he signed here he expected to have more game time. We have spoken several times about this topic with him. It's a brilliant situation because we have many players performing on an oustanding level on the position. It's tough sometimes for Felix, but he is not far away. He knows we are happy with what he is doing, we are happy to have him and he is a big part of the Norwich City family here. Tomorrow is a good opportunity for him to get some minutes and add something to our sqaud. In the cup games he was there with more than solid performances.
There are a few players like him, also Ben Marshall has had to wait, but it's good we have these options.

DF: Ben Marshall is back on the team sheet and of course he is greedy to be there and get some game time. Also tomorrow is a good chance for him to show what he is made of. When you get game time you have to prove you are in good shape and hopefully the lads who get some tomorrow are capable to do this.

DF: There was no question mark over Christoph [Zimmermann] playing at Brentford. He has been so consistent this season and so crucial for our unbeaten run. After just one mistake I do not doubt the quality of my players. He came back with a really good performance.
I was a bit tempted to risk Timm Klose as he had been out for three weeks. Grant [Hanley] is back and looks sharp in training but he has more or less been out for five months as he had to start the season without pre-season and then out for three and a half months with big injury problems. It will be an opportunity tomorrow for Grant to get some minutes.

DF: We wish Matt Jarvis all the best. He had a difficult time because of all the injuries at the Club, but always came with a smile on his face. To always be in rehab and not in team training is difficult. He is back in shape and had been joining us in the last weeks in team training, so when we were asked if he could have a move to get some game time we have to allow this. His behaviour was so good in the last two and a half years that we have to help him to get his career back on track and the opporunities at Walsall are much better for him. So we wish him all the best.

DF: I hope that we will go further on with this group of players. It's a good sign how close the group is together and everyone is really enjoying being together and successful.

DF: Timm [Klose] is a great guy and a key player for us. He is a leader and experienced guy and I am thnakful that I am allowed to work with him. We are looking forward to working together in the next months and hopefully he will stay longer. It's a topic for Stuart Webber and the board to see how it develops.

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That's all from Daniel. There will be more news at canaries.co.uk throughout the day.

Posted By: DrDublin, Jan 4, 13:58:02