Norwich City: Grant Hanley on injury return and Shane Duffy

The Norwich City captain wanders out of the dressing room at Colney into a seven-degree climate at the club's training ground, where the floodlights have already been turned off and only dim lamps inside allow him to navigate a dark and sparse pitch-side area.

He's just played 67 minutes for the under-21s, a fitness exercise after which most senior players simply shower and head immediately home. Add to the mix a last-minute winner for the visiting Tottenham Hotspur side, and it'd be understandable for the Scot to cut a miserable figure.

This wasn't even his first attempt at getting minutes in the legs; four days earlier he'd travelled to Stoke only for that game to be postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

But Hanley can barely hide the smile on his face as he re-emerges, happy to extend his stay at the Lotus Training Centre for media duties and a briefing on how his Achilles has held up. The 4-3 defeat was his first competitive outing since sustaining long-term damage against former side Blackburn Rovers in April.

Hanley hadn't played competitively since April (Image: Izzy Poles)

The Lancashire side visited Carrow Road two days after Hanley's appearance, but there was no temptation for under-fire head coach David Wagner to throw him into a toxic NR1 atmosphere. Watching his team-mates struggle has been a significant weight on the 31-year-old's shoulders, but he's remained focused on the task in hand as he worked his way back to full fitness.

"As a footballer you want to be on the pitch, but my role's been to try and support as much as I can, whether things are going well or not so well," he says, speaking exclusively to the Pink Un. "As a player being injured you always want to be out there and help your team-mates, no matter what the situation is on the pitch.

"From a personal point of view, I've been doing as much as I can to try and progress and get back on the pitch. That's been the mindset throughout.

"I don't think it's been overly quick, but I feel like it's been a good rehab, I don't feel like we've wasted a day. Every single day we've been absolutely on it. I couldn't have done anything more to come back any quicker.

"It's been good, old-fashioned dedication and hard work. I've been prepared to make sacrifices and dedicate myself, and I've seen the benefits of that."

The 31-year-old credits hard work for his fast progress in rehab (Image: Izzy Poles)

A significant part of outgoing sporting director Stuart Webber's legacy has been his continued commitment to improving the facilities at Colney, and Hanley believes he's benefited from that. He credits his club and its staff for their hand in his rehab, saying: "The biggest thing I can say is that I'm just so grateful and so fortunate to be at a club like this, where you're given every opportunity to progress like that.

"The staff outside of the medical and sports science department have been great with me, the players have been great with me. Then on the medical side of it I couldn't ask for any more: the facilities, the research that went into my rehab.

"The work started super early, so I don't think we could have done any more. I feel like with the opportunity and the resources that have been handed to me, you'd be a fool to fail."

He's also retained his relationship with the club's playing squad, most of whom he's remained in close quarters with throughout his rehab.

"Sometimes the lads are on different schedules," he continues, "but as I've been progressing through the rehab I've certainly been closer to a normal schedule. On match days I've been in the dressing room before, during and after games."

He remained involved with the first team during his time out (Image: Izzy Poles)

That squad has been bolstered significantly since the 48-times-capped international last featured in a Championship match, with a number of City stalwarts exiting this summer and onus placed on seniority for their replacements.

Hanley believes that can only be a good thing, and that the Canaries retain a good balance in the make-up of their squad. One of those signings in particular was a pleasing one for him, even if they may well be left competing for a starting berth.

"It's always good to have experienced bodies in the dressing room," he says. "But we've still got that mix, we've got young lads who are in and around it. We've definitely got that balance, but it obviously helps to have a couple of experienced lads.

"[Me and Shane Duffy] had a great relationship at Blackburn, we both were pretty successful there. So it's good to see Shane again, and he's somebody that I'm close with. Good to have him as part of the dressing room."

Hanley is pleased with the experienced added to City's dressing room (Image: Izzy Poles)

Duffy will be absent for Saturday's trip to Cardiff, combining with a serious injury that keeps fellow centre-back Ben Gibson out until Christmas. Hanley's services may therefore be required sooner than expected, and he knows the size of the boots he has to fill.

"It's a big blow for us to lose a player like Ben," he says. "He's one of the senior lads in the group, one of the leaders, and someone who's so important for the way we want to try and play as well.

"But I've been in the game long enough now to know that you just stick to the plan, stay calm and don't get over-excited by situations, don't make any rash decisions. My plan's pretty clear, and I'll be guided by people above me, and I'll do as I'm told and be where I need to be."

Hanley follows our discussion with a quick word for club channels, somehow filmed with a small light in the pitch black. As he strolls back into the Lotus Training Centre things feel rather mundane, but in reality he could be the man to save City's season.

Coming into the leakiest defence in the division he could hardly worsen matters, but expectations are higher than continuity. This is a man who's lifted two Championship trophies as Norwich captain, and he knows standards need raising. Everyone connected with the club will hope he's the man to do it.