Norwich City have had a tough run of form lately and head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup has revealed that a key player for the Canaries is set to miss out for a couple of weeks.
In his press conference earlier today, Norwich’s head coach revealed that defender Jose Cordoba will be unavailable for the next two games due to a knee injury. The East Anglian side have seen a number of important first-team players missing due to injury recently which has coincided with a seven game winless run.
How has Jose Cordoba performed for Norwich City?
The Canaries completed the signing of Jose Cordoba in the summer from Bulgarian First League side PFC Levski Sofia for a reported fee of £3 million. Since his move to England, the 23 year old has made 14 appearances for the Canaries in all competitions.
The Panamanian defender has fitted straight into Thorup’s preferred possession based football with a 91% passing accuracy and an average of 83.2 successful passes per 90 minutes on average. Cordoba has also been a driving force in the Canaries defence with a 100% dribble success rate so far this season.
The 23 year old has been impressive in his defensive duties with an average of 3.42 duels won, an impressive 5.91 recoveries and 1.24 interceptions per 90 minutes on average. Once Cordoba made a starting place his own in the Canaries side, he created a strong defensive partnership alongside Shane Duffy and the full-backs Callum Doyle and Kellen Fisher.
The news of Cordoba’s injury is a blow to the Canaries but head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup was confident that the defender wouldn’t be out for a long period of time:
“It’s not exactly the same as what he had after the Leeds game, we hope to make him available for the QPR game next Saturday (7th December). He needs a bit of rest and recovery”.
The Panamanian is the latest of Norwich City players to have spent time in the treatment room with the Canaries hopeful to have some additional bodies back for the festive period.
Players starting to return for Norwich City
As mentioned, the Canaries have had their fair share of injuries and suspensions in recent weeks which has contributed to their poor run of form. The East Anglian side are hopeful that they will see some players return, starting with the fixture against Plymouth Argyle tomorrow.
One influential player returning to the squad for tomorrow’s game is captain Kenny McLean and it was clear to see how much of an influence Thorup believes his skipper has on his side:
“He (McLean) brings the whole package, for me he is one of the best midfielders in the league. With him, it’s what you don’t see. It’s the communication, small adjustments and talking to teammates, so it’s all his experiences away from the tactical side”.
Prior to the game tomorrow, Thorup also confirmed that striker Ashley Barnes is back and involved in the squad for the first time this season. Should Barnes feature it is only likely to be a short cameo from the bench in order to get him up to match fitness.
The visit of Plymouth has come too soon for Chilean midfielder Marcelino Nunez who, despite being on the road to recovery, is unable to participate in the fixture tomorrow. The same will be the case for full-back Kellen Fisher who is set to serve a suspension after picking up a fifth booking of the season against West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.
The injury to Cordoba will be a blow for Norwich in their quest to get a first win in seven attempts tomorrow but the Canaries will hope that he will be back in contention to contribute soon with the busy festive schedule coming up.