Late technical error press news in...

Norwich City head coach Daniel Farke addresses the media ahead of Middlesbrough v Norwich City. Updates to come from 1.30pm.
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DF: Grant Hanley and Max Aarons didn't travel to their national teams, but they're both available tomorrow.
Rupp, Gibson, and Cantwell have much improved and trained in every session and are available.
Zimmermann came through the last game without any problems and is available.

DF: Quintilla is still not available. Bad news with Bali Mumba. He rolled his knee in training without any contact. He will be out for ten weeks.

DF: Similar diagnosis to Adam Idah, who came back injured from his national team. He will also be out for ten weeks.

DF: Horrendous news for them and for us during this period of many games, but you have to handle some injuries and we hope to have them back in February at the latest.

DF: We're privileged that we can do our job during these crazy times, but it's important we give people something to speak and think about.
But when I think about Pukki, Krul, McGovern or the young lads with the Under-21s, none of them have had one day off and now come back from international duty.

DF: My biggest concern is that we still play friendlies, and send our players around the world in order to earn money from friendlies. I'm respectful of competitive games, but in this time, I'm not sure if we should send them to friendlies.

DF: Let's be honest, no-one is interested in friendlies.

DF: It's a dangerous direction to go in. It's tricky to make the right decisions when money is an important topic, but we have to make sure we don't overdo it.

DF: We need smart solutions and to listen to people who work with players every day. If Frank Lampard is concered, someone who was always perfectly prepared, it's definitely a warning sign.

DF: It doesn't help with the health of players or the quality of games, but there are some necessities due to TV money, so we have to find a good balance [regarding fixture kick-off times].

DF: Pukki travelled around the world in the last four days, and now goes to Middlesbrough and Stoke.

DF: I'd never ask a national team coach to rest my player because they want to win games and the players are proud and want to play, but we are the ones who have to rest them, although we pay them, to make sure there is no injury.

DF: We all can't wait to have supporters in, so encouraging signs with the vaccine, but it's important to stay careful. If it's necessary to carry on this way for a few more weeks to make sure there's not another wave, we can all deal with it.

DF: If we go top of the league it's good for the mood, but it's not important after 12 games. It's important how many points we have, but not the position we are in at the moment. We've had a good, solid start and are in a great position to build on.

DF: Many teams struggle after relegation, so I don't take it as a given. We want to be in the top six and are one point off the top, but we aren't addicted to the position. We just want to win as many points as possible.

DF: I like Neil Warnock a lot because I love characters and he's a big one. He's done it for so many years with so many promotions. He's so experienced and still full of energy and motivation. Even if you don't like his style, you have to admire it.

DF: They're so difficult to beat with a great mentality and that comes down to what Neil brings to the souls and hearts of the players. I love every chat with him because it's such a good time and so funny. He's greedy to win games, but quite relaxeed afterwards and it's always a pleasure to see him.

DF: It's a good decision to allow us to travel with a bigger squad and make five substitutions. I don't see an advantage for us in this topic, but it was hard to understand why we didn't start the season like this.

DF: It's eleven games too late, if I'm honest, but in general it's the right decision.

DF: You can argue it favours teams with more depth and quality in the squad. On the other hand, you can waste more time if you're a smaller club. It just makes sense in terms of the health of players. I'd have said the same if we were in the Premier League.

DF: 17 points from the last seven games is great, but momentum can change quickly so we have to stay focused. I don't think any club sent more players away for international duty than we did in this league.

DF: Placheta made his debut for Poland, playing alongside Lewandowski, and now I tell him the real stuff starts. It's not that easy for the international players, so we have to find a good balance and give them some rest.

DF: I nearly wanted to die when Finland got a red card and Teemu had to do more work tracking back. Scoring was great for his confidence, but he ended late and looked a bit like a ghost when he got back to Norwich. He's not the most tanned guy, but yesterday he looked pretty pale in his face.

DF: Bali was unbelievably disappointed with his injury. Max Aarons had to wait to come in but was fantastic on his debut. Bali was prepared to be thrown into the mix, so it's a big blow. We have to allow him to be down, but after that I expect him to work hard and come back even stronger. The sun is not always shining in a football career.

DF: The smile is now back on his face and he'll work hard in his rehab.

DF: Soto is impressive, without any doubt. We're happy with his development and it seems like a great piece of business, so compliments to our scouting and Stuart Webber.

DF: He played for Hannover in a relegation battle in the second tier, and he wasn't close to the first team, so it was brave, but our recruitment team saw his potential.

DF: He's rising and growing, but we have to be a bit careful. With all respect, Telstar aren't playing at the level we are. It was great to be called up for USA and score on his debut, but with all respect it was against Panama, not Brazil or Spain (I can't speak about Germany at the moment).

DF: Perhaps tomorrow it's 5-5, because both teams haven't conceded many. I expect a game where we have to be patient and efficient. It's difficult to break them and they're in a top unbeaten run.

DF: It would have been more difficult for Ben Gibson to play against Middlesbrough in a full stadium as he'd have to answer 240 ticket requests from friends and family. It's part of the job and, if he's fit, I trust him to be there with a good performance.

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That's all from the boss this afternoon. Thank-you for following today's live blog.

Posted By: DrDublin on November 20th 2020 at 16:39:20

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