Norwich City’s key duo Kenny McLean and Josh Sargent will be fit for the Canaries’ Championship trip to Swansea City after international injury scares.
McLean hobbled out of Scotland’s Nations League defeat to Portugal, but head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup confirmed on Thursday afternoon the experienced midfielder is available after a hip issue.
While master marksman Sargent sat out two US friendlies with what was reported in the American media as more ankle irritation.
The prolific striker has been beset by ankle-related problems since the World Cup in 2022, but Thorup delivered an upbeat bulletin at Colney.
“It is the other ankle. It is not related to any previous problems,” he said. “He felt something in his ankle after one of the early training sessions. Again, it was a decision based on how many minutes he could actually play in that second friendly and the decision was it was okay to go back home, take care of that ankle, and not take any risks.
"If everything goes well and according to our plans then he will be in training on Friday and involved in the game on Saturday.
“Kenny felt something just a little bit before half-time in that game. Maybe he was a little bit tired as well. But he seems okay now. We assessed him (on Thursday morning) and he took part in the training.
"He had some hip pain, can be just soreness, tiredness. I think he is okay and will play on Saturday. It looks like all the other internationals have come back fine. Onel (Hernandez) is the only one not back in the building.”
Ben Chrisene pulled out of England Elite duty, but has trained for the past fortnight with this club. Ashley Barnes suffered a minor setback recently on his comeback from surgery related to calf issues at the end of last season.
“Barnsey had a little setback just before the international break when everything was fine, we pushed him a little bit, and he did some running but maybe it was a little bit too much for him,” said the City head coach. “So we had to take a step back and two weeks from this point.
“Ben pulled out (of the England Elite squad) also with some pain but, again, to take no risks. There was a conversation between him and the federation. He had a small injury, but he was part of training last week for us.”
Thorup also confirmed Jacob Sorensen (foot) could be back in some training from next week, while Christian Fassnacht (Achilles) is on course for a return in a fortnight.
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