Norwich City dealt frustrating blow ahead of Stoke City | OneFootball

The Canaries will be without their number one for the trip to the Potteries

Norwich City boss Johannes Hoff Thorup has revealed that goalkeeper Angus Gunn will be unavailable for this weekend’s trip to Stoke City.

The 28-year-old was taken off at half time in the Canaries’ 4-0 victory over Hull City in their last outing before the international break, with a side strain seeing him unable to continue at Carrow Road.

George Long replaced his fellow shot-stopper at the interval that day, and the backup ‘keeper will be between the sticks this weekend, with the Scottish international not recovering in time for the trip to the Potteries.

Having not started a league game for the Norfolk outfit since November last year, the former Millwall and Hull City man will don the gloves once again on Saturday, with former Norwich coach Narcis Pelach in the home dugout.

Johannes Hoff Thorup issues Norwich City, Angus Gunn update

Speaking to the press on Thursday afternoon, Thorup confirmed the bad news surrounding Gunn, with doubt cast over his involvement in the fixtures in the week ahead.

Following on from the trip to Stoke this weekend, Norwich will face a trip to Preston North End on Tuesday evening, before hosting Middlesbrough the following weekend, with Gunn’s involvement doubtful for all three clashes at this stage.

Speaking of the situation surrounding his first-choice goalkeeper, the Canaries boss told the club’s official website: "It can be a couple of weeks maybe. We will try and inject it and see if it can go a little bit faster."

That leaves Long ready to fill the void until the former Manchester City man regains full fitness, having conceded seven goals in his two 90-minute outings so far this season, in EFL Cup matches with Stevenage and Crystal Palace.

Norwich City boosted by other potential injury fears

Despite Gunn’s injury concerns, Thorup was largely positive surrounding the other potential concerns ahead of the trip to Staffordshire with updates on Marcelino Nunez [pictured] and Jose Cordoba.

The former withdrew from international duty with Chile following a hamstring complaint, having played a full 90 minutes in the victory over the Tigers days before the international break.

Cordoba also failed to get any game time while away with Panama, citing pain in his knee as the reason behind his no-show while back in Central America, although the City boss isn’t concerned about their long-term fitness.

When speaking of the pair, the Dane said: “[Nunez is] More positive than expected, he could do a little bit on the pitch today and perhaps tomorrow.

“We had him in the day after the game (Hull City) and it was not that good but he went for a scan and it was better than expected."

"They (Panama) wanted to see him [Cordoba], which is perfectly fine. It was ok for him to go back and see his family.

"He was not able to play with that pain in his knee. It's not really an injury it's just perhaps overuse, so we perhaps have to be careful about it."

"If he's doing well in the session tomorrow then there's no worries from my side that he can play."

With 10 points collected from their last 12 available, the Canaries will be looking to continue their impressive recent form when domestic football returns, but without the reliable Gunn manning the goal, Thorup may have to alter his game plan to deal with the threat that the hosts may pose.