Jarrett absence explained

CHRIS WISE

Norwich City manager Nigel Worthington has explained the absence of Jason Jarrett from tonight's reserve squad.

The out-of-favour midfielder played in the Canaries' previous second string fixture and was expected to feature in their latest Premiership Reserve League fixture against Portsmouth as well.

But his manager has a couple of central midfielders on the sidelines present, with Andy Hughes and Youssef Safri both missing training today - and he decided to withdraw Jarrett from the reserves as a precaution.

“We have got a couple of injuries in the centre of midfield at the moment so we decided not to risk Jason in the reserves,” he said.

“We need to make sure he stays injury free ahead of Saturday's match against Stoke.”

That said, there's an excellent chance that both Hughes and Safri will be fit for selection at the weekend. Hughes is making a good recovery from the hamstring strain that forced him out of Saturday's 4-1 defeat at Crystal Palace while Safri didn't suffer any serious damage after falling awkwardly on his hip during the game.

“Saf is a little bit sore but hopefully it will have settled down by the middle of the week and he will be able to return to training,” he said.

“Andy is also on the mend and he could be back before then if all goes well.”