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Norwich v Reading

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The headlines from Daniel Farke`s pre-Reading press conference are mostly positive, it has to be said.

Nelson Oliveira could make an early return to the squad after training on Friday morning. He`s described as a possible “option for a short-term appearance on the bench.” Much will depends if he has any reaction to his individual session on Thursday and the team training on Friday.

Christoph Zimmermann is available again after playing just 50 minutes of the 1-1 draw with Barnsley on Tuesday. Christoph played at Oakwell having missed the previous game against Hull with a flu type bug and ended up losing 6 kilos in weight. As a result he was described by Farke as being “nearly dead after the last game!” I hope that was metaphorically speaking.

There`s more good news surrounding Harrison Reed with the combative midfielder returning to fitness after his own bout of illness in the week.

Alex Tettey has also had some good news. You will remember that he was stretchered off in the late stages at Oakwell after a freak collision with James Husband in which he badly gashed his foot and Daniel Farke`s first assessment thought it was career ending. As it`s turned out though, he`s okay and there`s nothing broken. Assuming he heals quickly enough, he should be back after the international break, at least it means he won`t get booked this weekend!

We`ve not seen enough of Wes Hoolahan lately, to my mind. Farke told the assembled media that Wes is fully fit but and could start games but he likes his impact off the bench. With his contract running down, I`d like to see as much as possible of Wessi, while we still can.

There was also an update on some of the longer term absentees.

Marco Stiepermann (hernia op) will return after the International break, with Moritz Leitner potentially being available after Fulham on Good Friday (Yay!). Tom Trybull should make the last four games of the season and Matt Jarvis (I know) will resume training after the international break too.

You may also remember a rather decent midfielder by the name of Louis Thompson, who has missed the whole season. Herr Farke reported that he could be ready to play for the U23s before the season`s end, which would then mean he could hopefully play a full and meaningful part in next season. I have no doubt that had he been fit that we probably wouldn`t have signed Harrison Reed on loan last summer.

Whenever I`ve seen Thompson, I have been impressed by his ball retention, passing and tough tackling. With Ben Godfrey returning next summer, I think we may be well stocked with defensive midfielders, which would mean Alex Tettey could leave Norfolk after 6 years as his contract expires.

In terms of Saturday`s opposition, Reading will be determined to put in a better performance than they did the last time that they came to the fine City. You will remember that being a 7-1 drubbing for the Royals.

Despite being in a relegation battle, Reading are only 6 points off the bottom three, the Royals are still trying to play possession based football and that should make for a potentially more interesting game than the last few we`ve had to endure at Carrow Road.

The likes of Bolton and Forest have sat back and allowed Norwich to have the ball, basically saying “try and break us down.” Hopefully this might mean we see something a little more exciting than usual.

We live in hope.

You can catch up on all the detail from the presser on Twitter @NorwichCityFC

OTBC

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Editor - a forty something Canary, who has been following Norwich for 30 odd years. Family man with wife, kids, dog and a love of sport. Fan of Boxing, Vale 46, F1 and Rock.