Everyone has a role to play at Norwich City
Norwich City boss Paul Lambert believes the club’s longer term casualties could still have a big role to play in the Canaries’ end of season run-in, but only if they want to.
The likes of Leon Barnett (hamstring), Chris Martin (hamstring) and Simon Lappin (appendix removed) are all set for periods on the sidelines but Lambert hopes they can still play a part in the Canaries’ promotion push.
The City boss has established a sense of togetherness at Carrow Road and, while he will give Barnett time away from the squad to recover from the surgery he had to his torn hamstring on Tuesday, he wants to see City remain a tight unit with the injured players providing support to the rest of the squad.
When asked if he would still want the injured players around the dressing room Lambert said: “I think they want do that themselves – I’m not here to babysit anybody. If it’s long term and I think it’s worth it then I am all for them having a break.
“I leave it up to the physio and the player themselves. If it’s short term then I try and get them back as quickly as you can but if it’s long term, especially if they have done well for me, you tend to look after them.”
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Simon Lappin has already been brought back into the mix at Colney after having his appendix removed although it is still likely to be a few weeks before he can be considered for selection.
Andrew Surman’s return has compensated for his absence and the former Southampton man was one of the players that Lambert gave some time away from the club to help in his recovery from a second knee injury.
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It certainly doesn’t seem to have done the midfielder any harm as he came through his first 90 minutes in the 2-0 win against Barnsley on Saturday.
But Lambert will judge the situation according to each player’s personality although he will not stand for any of his squad feeling sorry for themselves whether they are injured or simply not in the team.
This is a problem however that Lambert insists he doesn’t have to guard against with his current crop of players.
“To be fair I have never had that,” he said. “It is a strange thing that. If people are not playing nobody comes and taps on my door.”
