Daniel Farke, and the rest of the Canary nation for that matter, face an anxious wait over the next couple of days for news on injuries suffered by Timm Klose and Alex Pritchard in the 0-2 win at Cambridge over 120 minutes.
Cambridge United provided stern opposition to the Canaries who went 0-2 up in the first half of what was billed as two matches over 120 minutes, a format that the Canaries have previously used in pre-seasons at Cambridge.
There was a first team debut for Angus Gunn in the first 60 minutes as Farke mostly used senior players.
There were some notable absentees in the form of Wes Hoolahan, Marley Watkins, Harry Toffolo, Harrison Reed and Jacob Murphy, which piqued the interest of the Newcastle media who remain convinced that a second bid has gone in for City’s young winger and that our acceptance is just a matter of time.
So it might be but the fact that Jacob only returned to training on Friday meant he was unlikely to play here. After the game, Daniel Farke told Radio Norfolk that he expected Jacob to travel with the squad to Germany for the training camp.
Josh Murphy opened the scoring with a half volley from 25 yards before Ben Godfrey scored from close range to put the visitors in control.
As the first 60 minutes drew to a close, Uche Ikpeazu clattered into Timm Klose in an x-rated challenge that could have seen a red card had it not been pre-season and he was unable to continue, being replaced by new boy, Marcel Franke.
The second half saw numerous changes for both sides but no more goals.
In the 98th minute, Pritchard went down clutching his ankle in pain and had to be stretchered off – Farke later said that he fears the worst for both Klose and Pritchard but is more worried about Pritchard. If it’s ligament damage then he’ll miss several weeks of pre-season at best.
Two players that do deserve an extra mention are Ben Godfrey and Josh Murphy. Both were excellent today and Godfrey in particular put the Stevenage game well and truly behind him with a very assured and mature performance. There is no question he is part of the first team squad and he’s pushing for game time.
“Sadly in some moments the opponent was pretty aggressive,” Farke told the EDP
‘It is football so when they are on the pitch they want to win and when you are too dominant sometimes the opponents lose their nerves and it was a pretty dangerous foul.
“Timm I hope will be okay, a muscle strain or something like that so hopefully he won`t be out for too long.
“Then in the last quarter it was a clear foul on Alex Pritchard and we should have had a penalty. It`s a strained ligament, hopefully it`s not too bad but he has a lot of pain and was a little bit disappointed, a little bit of crying in the dressing room, so it doesn`t look too good.
“We have to wait for the diagnosis of the doctor but I`m pretty concerned about that.”
Norwich fly out to Germany tomorrow for a week long training camp. It remains to be seen if Klose and Pritchard are on the plane.
Cambridge first game (4-2-3-1): Mitov; Halliday, Legge, Darling, Taylor; Lewis, Trialist (Squire 46); Elito, Berry, Maris; Ikpeazu.
Norwich first game (3-4-3): Gunn; Martin, Zimmermann, Klose (Franke 58); Wildschut, Vrancic, Godfrey, Husband; Naismith, Jerome, Josh Murphy.
Cambridge second game (4-3-3): Mitov; Davies, Roberts, Coulson, Dunk; Mingoia, Osadebe, Deegan; Trialist, McGurk, Ibehre (Foy 101). Unused subs: Knowles, Norville-Williams.
Norwich second game (3-5-2): Matthews; Franke, Zimmerman, Godfrey; Murphy (Wildschut 91), Naismith (Vrancic 91), Tettey, Maddison, Lewis; Pritchard (Husband 103), Oliveira.
Norwich goals: Murphy 16, Godfrey 18
OTBC