Fit-again striker Jovon Makama is back - but Philippe Clement has warned he is not ready to lead the Norwich City attack.
The 22-year-old made a long-awaited return from foot injuries with a second-half cameo in the midweek 2-1 Championship win over Birmingham.
Makama was sidelined for seven months but will have to remain patient with Mo Toure poised to be recalled for the weekend trip to Middlesbrough.
“Jovon is still far away (from a start),” said Clement. “With the kind of injury that he had we need to manage it. Still about training days, days of rest, to let everything heal 100pc. No, 100pc is not good. Let's say 300pc to be sure for the rest of the season.
"I'm really happy that I could give him these minutes. He felt good. He fought well, he should have got a penalty, I believe, or at least a free-kick if it was outside the box. He was working hard for the team. That’s what I want to see from all of them.
"Work hard for the team and then the spotlight will come every game to somebody, but the most important thing is to have these three points together, and that makes a season really pleasant.”
Oscar Schwartau was left out for the previous away win at Sheffield United but came back with a bang to open the scoring with a thumping hit.
“Oscar got a breather, and because of this, he could give more, and maybe could have scored the goal because of that, because he was more fresh than if he would have played 60 minutes or 45 minutes in the last game,” said Clement.
“Let's say in every well-run club it's the same case now. We made the decision not to have Anis (Ben Slimane) and Mo in this selection, because they gave a lot the last couple of weeks, and they're fresh now for the next block of games to come.
"I've been talking a lot about that, too much for me over the last two weeks. Last season we were all the time talking about 12 injured players and finding solutions. What we do now is the only way not to go back to that situation again.
"It's nothing special. Totally nothing special. It's what we did in Monaco. It's what we did in Bruges. It's what every Premier League club is doing.
"There's not one Premier League player who plays every three days, who starts every three days; big names, big internationals are sometimes not in a selection to create freshness.
"I hope I don't need to explain every time over the next couple of months.”
Share