Anis Ben Slimane is a 'complete' midfielder and Kenny McLean the ‘heartbeat’ of Johannes Hoff Thorup’s Norwich City side.
Both will be key figures in the Canaries’ return to Championship action after the international break, with Marcelino Nunez likely to be sidelined with a hamstring issue that saw him pull out of the Chile squad.
Thorup is expected to confirm Nunez is ruled out ahead of the next league trip to Narcis Pelach’s Stoke, but Slimane and McLean were part of an accomplished midfield unit that hammered Hull.
Sheffield United loanee Slimane appears the perfect prototype for the Dane’s brand of slick, passing football.
“He's a top player for us,” said Thorup, with the Tunisian international arriving in the closing days of the summer transfer window. “He can bring the physicality to the matches that we need sometimes, especially when it's going back and forth, and there's transition moments and there's duels and there's a hard fight, and we need him for that.
"And then he's also a technical, gifted player, so he can give us the calmness we need. He gets himself in good positions in behind the lines to receive the ball going forward.”
The experienced McLean was heavily touted with a move away in the summer, but has started every single Championship game ahead of linking up with Scotland.
“He's the heart of the team," said the City head coach. "And we have these players where they have to have this understanding that is maybe not for them always to decide the game and score the goals, but they are the reason why we can score the goals. And I think it's so important for them to have that understanding.
"They really have to create the balance, the shape and for the team create that flow, create that rhythm. I think definitely he's getting there.
“He's eager to play games, and he's eager to train every day, and he's eager just to make sure that all the others perform on a high level. It's fantastic for us. It is also good for a coach, because I can reach out to him throughout the game and communicate and make small adjustments.
"And he also has an eye for seeing this in the games while he is on the pitch.”
McLean has opened up on the role Thorup played in convincing him he was part of his plans, amid close season reports linking him with Rangers.
"Not too much that needed to be spoken about," he said, when asked by Scottish media ahead of Saturday's Nations League game in Croatia. "The manager was just in the door for a couple of weeks and I had a conversation with him.
"He'd made it quite clear publicly he wanted young players, and I didn't quite fit that bracket. But when I spoke to him he knew he needed some experience about the place, and I've been there a long time.
"He told me I was still a big part of the plan, so for me that was me secure and getting my head down at Norwich and not really focusing on elsewhere. It was something that was resolved pretty quickly."
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