City boss Paul Lambert could have another two faces to add to his first-team squad in the near future as Zak Whitbread and Cody McDonald make their return from injury in today’s reserves clash with Peterborough at Colney (2pm).
It is a strong line-up, with Adam Drury continuing his comeback from a thigh problem, and both Michael Spillane and Jens Berthel Askou will feature again in an attempt to force their way back into Lambert’s plans.
But all eyes will be on Whitbread and McDonald to see whether they have made a full recovery from calf and thigh complaints respectively.
And with the Canaries edging ever closer to promotion from League One with just ten games left, the Canary chief will be glad to have as many players available as possible.
The Posh encounter will, of course, be Jeremy Goss’ second reserves clash since being asked to assist Crook. And ‘Chippy’ yesterday paid tribute to his former midfield partner.
“Jerry’s been absolutely brilliant, he’s such an infectious character to have around the place,” the City coach told the club’s official website. “He’s played at the highest level, is enthusiastic and is somebody the boys will benefit from working with.”
Staying on the second string theme, the club have announced that they will again be withdrawing from the Totesport.com Combination League.
City famously pulled out of the same competition under Glenn Roeder but rejoined last year after finding the friendly route problematic. But Lambert has opted for this approach and pinpointed greater freedom as one of the main reasons behind the decision.
“Reserve team football is important to us but leaving the league and arranging our own fixtures will give us a lot more choice about who we play and when we play them.
“We want reserve team games to be of maximum benefit to the squad in terms of first-team players who need to get matches under their belt and youngsters coming through the Academy.”
City reserves: Rudd; Spillane, Askou, Whitbread, Drury; McVeigh, Hughes, Gill, McNamee; Johnson, McDonald. Subs: Steer, Adeyemi, Francomb, Kelly, Dawkin.
Leave a Reply