Kieran Dowell feels he couldn’t be in a better place than Norwich City to recover from his ankle injury.
The attacking midfielder was on the receiving end of a tough tackle from Preston centre-back Ben Davies and was subsequently ruled out until the new year.
Dowell stayed on the pitch for an additional 20 minutes before coming off after treatment but has now embarked on his recovery following ankle surgery,
The 22-year-old has described the injury as a ‘sickener’ – especially considering it arrived in the embryonic stages of his Canaries career following his summer move from Everton.
“It’s not too bad,” Dowell replied when asked about his progress. “It’s been four weeks since surgery so I’m on the mend and making progress every day so hopefully I’ll be back as soon as possible.
“It was a real sickener to happen so early on. It’s just about looking forward now and getting back fit as soon as possible. The physios and the lads have been behind me and supporting me.
“It’s a great club with great staff going right down from the owners to the ladies in the canteen. I felt really welcome from the first day I walked in and with my injury being so early, I felt like it’s a good place to be injured, if you can say that.”
Dowell was one of 11 signings during the transfer window as City sought to revamp a squad that suffered a brutal Premier League relegation.
He impressed in pre-season – scoring and assisting against SC Verl in City’s tour of Germany in the summer. That was followed up with a strike in the Canaries’ EFL Cup defeat to Luton Town in September and he believes City have the quality to thrive in the Championship.
“There’s real strength in depth in all positions and I just felt that game against Rotherham was a great win for us. To do it in the last minute, the morale has been really high the last couple of days and as we go into this period of Saturday-Tuesday games – I think it will stand us in good stead.
“That’s the aim (gaining promotion). I think when you look around our changing room, you’d fancy us against anyone in the division,” Dowell told NR1 Live.
“I think it’s just about getting that winning mentality back now – which is happening. Then we’ll get points on the board.”
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