City boss Paul Lambert has confirmed that goal hero Grant Holt has gone under the surgeon’s knife in a bid to cure his ongoing ankle problem.
The 30-goal Canary skipper has had a niggle for most of the season but in true northern fashion, the former tyre fitter from Cumbria has carried on regardless.
But with promotion and the League One title now wrapped up, it has been decided that an op is the best course of action and Holt should now be ready and raring to go by the time Norwich start pre-season training.
“He has had it done now and he’s fine,” said Lambert, speaking to the press ahead of Saturday’s trip to Bristol Rovers. “He had the operation yesterday and Grant will be back for the start of pre-season.
“It will give him time to recover and thankfully we got the job done [winning the league] before the end of season so it has given him a chance to get it done.
“There were times in training when he would hurt himself and you thought ‘oh my god’. But he just battled on and got on with it; we knew we had to get him through the games.”
The Rovers clash comes after a long and arduous campaign and Lambert admitted that he could make a few more changes after resting Simon Lappin and Adam Drury last Saturday.
But with 2,000 supporters making the long trek to the West Country, they will be going all out to get another three points and break the record for City away wins in one season.
“I want to win the next two games. The team I pick will go out to win the next two matches because we’ve got 2,000 fans travelling to the game this weekend.
“Every allocation we fill and we never send tickets back – every game we take thousands. It is fantastic and they have certainly played their part in what we have done.
“We will do our best to win the game as always. Bristol Rovers is a tough place to go and they will want to end on a high and just because we have done what we set out to do, we still have to go there and win the game.”
One Canary youngster who may well get a run out on Saturday is Tom Adeyemi and the 18-year-old will certainly be in a good place mentally after agreeing a new two-year contract this week.
He needs to make just one more appearance to qualify for a League One winners’ medal and Lambert hinted that he may hand some fringe players a chance to shine in the next two matches.
But Adeyemi is a long-term project, and while he may even get a loan spell away from Norfolk before he really makes his mark at Carrow Road, Lambert is a big admirer of the classy midfielder.
“He is a year behind Korey Smith but bodies develop in different ways and at different rates. Tom is just someone who needs to keep progressing and hopefully his time will come.
“He has terrific potential and we will need to see how he does. We might [send him out on loan] but we’ll wait and see, Tom might come back in pre-season and hit the ground running.”
It’s certainly been an eventful season for City boss Lambert, from being in the away dugout in August to leading the team to the division’s top prize by April.
And the Scot revealed that it hadn’t really sunk in yet – it may not do until he enjoys a well-earned break after the final ball is kicked on May 8.
“I have not sat down and thought about the things that have happened yet, with all the changing scenarios. I think we have got the fans back onside and when it is done and dusted, I’ll sit back and think ‘yeah, we have done alright’.
“We have got the club back up at the first time of asking, which is never an easy thing to do, and I think there are only four or five teams that have done it.
“League One is a really tough league; really tough. We are now up in a higher league and the club have earned the right to be there. The lads can do well in the Championship and you never know where that can take you.”
Thanks for your comments!