An ‘outstanding’ cup performance has Kenny McLean in contention for his first Premier League start of the season for Norwich City.

That’s the view of head coach Daniel Farke, who was full of praise for the Scotland international’s display during the 6-0 thrashing of Bournemouth in the League Cup on Tuesday.

The 29-year-old picked up a knee injury at Barnsley on the final day of last season and returned during the latter stages of pre-season before coming on at half-time during the painful 5-0 league loss at Manchester City last weekend.

“It was a tough time for Kenny. One of his lifelong football dreams did not happen. Due to this nasty tackle, he missed the Euros and also his pre-season was quite interrupted,” said Farke.

“He missed the first games and then had a little setback, it was difficult for him. He was more or less out for four months so we had to be careful with him.

“We gave him a few minutes and when he was first involved it was good for him, to find the confidence in his body and to find his rhythm.

“I think in the last game he was outstanding, 65 minutes on the pitch and had these moments in us going into the lead, scoring one goal and involved three times in the other goals.

“He won many balls, also a fantastic chip to Christos Tzolis, also before Josh Sargent’s first goal and he was crucial to winning the ball to pass to Christos before Lukas Rupp’s goal.”

McLean was taken off after 71 minutes of Tuesday’s victory at Carrow Road, seemingly with Saturday's top-flight home clash with Leicester in mind, and has also returned to the Scotland squad.

“It’s great to have Kenny back,” Farke continued. “We need his energy and his physicality, his experience on the pitch.

“After this cup game we can say that his injury time is over and he is straight back in the mix, it’s good to have him back.”

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