Norwich City pair face late fitness checks

David Cuffley

Norwich City boss Paul Lambert will make a late check on injured pair Gary Doherty and Wes Hoolahan before deciding on his line-up for tomorrow's League One home match against Milton Keynes Dons.

Centre-half Doherty missed the leaders' 2-1 victory over Stockport on Easter Monday with a dead leg, but he could be available.

“Doc has been terrific for me but a dead leg can be a sore thing so we'll see how he is,” said Lambert.

Forward Hoolahan, who was ruled out of the Stockport game with a thigh strain, was said to have more of a problem earlier in the week but the City boss said: “We'll just wait and see and decide how he is. It's only a strain so we'll see how he feels.”

Definitely missing for the match at Carrow Road (3pm) are goalkeeper Fraser Forster, completing a two-match ban for his sending-off at Tranmere last week, defender Jens Berthel Askou, still troubled by a foot injury, and forward Luke Daley, who has had a long-running thigh problem.

The Canaries need a maximum of three wins from their final six matches to be certain of promotion to the Championship.

“When I first came here I was told to get us in the play-offs, but we're in a position where we can get out of the league automatically,” said Lambert.

There is a score to settle as City were beaten 2-1 at Milton Keynes in September when they lost three players through injury during the match and lost to a late Peter Leven penalty, awarded for a foul by Chris Martin.

“The linesman influenced the referee that day,” said Lambert. “The referee never gave the penalty, the linesman did it. If you look back on the video the referee waved play on and the linesman overruled him, so we lost the game. It's a chance to rectify it.”

Though MK Dons' play-off hopes are all but over, they are the only side who could still double City this season.

“They are dangerous - I think every game is dangerous - but we're playing well enough to win,” said Lambert.