- Clement confirms Norwich squad remains unchanged for the Preston clash.
- McConville remains sidelined with a knee injury until after international break.
- Canaries chase fourth straight win despite missing 15 senior first-team players.
City will be without Ruairi McConville again when they host Preston North End at Carrow Road on Saturday, but Philippe Clement confirmed there are no fresh injury concerns from the midweek win over Sheffield United.
McConville, the Northern Irish international centre-back who has started nearly every game since Clement’s appointment in November, missed Tuesday’s 2-1 victory after sustaining a knee injury during the FA Cup Leeds defeat.
Clement said the squad for Preston is likely to be unchanged.
On McConville…
“I don’t think it’s going to be long term, but he was not available today, probably not for the weekend, and we will assess further,” Clement said. “I’m not one to take risks with those things.”
The Belgian explained that McConville and goalkeeper Dan Grimshaw both were injured in the same passage of play against Leeds, preceding the hosts’ goal that was ruled out by VAR.
Grimshaw is out with a calf issue, while McConville’s knee is being monitored with a view to returning after the international break.
On the injury list…
The numbers remain grim. Clement confirmed they are operating with 14 or 15 senior players unavailable, a figure he admitted he has stopped bothering to count.
“I’m very pleased. If you see the situation that we’re in for the moment, with 14 or 15 — I don’t count it anymore — players out and then getting these results in that manner, it shows how involved all the squad is in getting good results for the club and in proving themselves,” he said.
Pelle Mattsson returned from an eight-game absence against the Blades, but Oscar Schwartau (hamstring) and Mo Toure (groin) are not expected back until after the break. Jovon Makama, Papa Diallo, Mirko Topic, Ante Crnac, Lucien Mahovo, Jeffery Schlupp, Shane Duffy and Gabe Forsyth all remain long-term absentees.
On squad resilience…
Clement was keen to credit the players who have stepped in during the crisis. City have won 12 of their 21 league matches under him, including 10 wins in the last 13 across all competitions and three straight Championship victories heading into tomorrow.
“The team keeps the resilience and the belief, not to start to doubt, but to push on,” Clement said. “With the whole squad, you saw all the players coming in, giving something extra, again, in energy for the team.”
What it means for Preston…
Despite being 19 points ahead of City when the teams met in Lancashire in December, Preston now sit 14th on 49 points, one ahead of City in 15th on 48. A win, or even a draw given City’s superior goal difference, would move Clement’s side above Paul Heckingbottom’s team in the table.
The visitors arrive in poor form, winless in six league matches after a 3-0 defeat to Coventry last time out. City, by contrast, have not lost in three.
A win edges City closer to the top half of the table, but the form table is, as ever, there to be ripped up. Clement will remind his players of this, and there will be no complacency.
