Elphick could return to bench duty

DANIEL FARKE says he is “not surprised but very impressed” by Norwich’s season as the Sky Bet Championship leaders close in on promotion.

The Canaries, who registered their 10th win in a 12-match unbeaten run by thrashing

Town 7-0 on Tuesday, need five points from their remaining six games to be certain of going up.

And promotion will be confirmed on Saturday if they beat Derby at home and both Brentford and Swansea fail to win, at Preston and Millwall respectively.

Farke, on the brink of taking the club into the Premier League for the second time in three years, said at his pre-match press conference: “It makes no sense to hide from it, we know we’re in a fantastic position.

“We’re not too addicted to these thoughts, we just want to win football games. We can’t influence what happens on other pitches.

“I’m not surprised with how well we’ve done, but very impressed. We lost important players in the summer and didn’t have a proper pre-season - we then found ourselves in the Championship, the toughest league in the world.

“It’s been an unbelievably difficult season but it’s so impressive that we’re on course for one of best-ever seasons.

“I don’t mind when we get promoted. The stadium won’t be full so the difference won’t be too much.

“For me, the most important point is that it happens at some point.”

Third-placed Brentford take on a Preston outfit whose two games so far under interim boss Frankie McAvoy have been a 1-1 draw with Norwich and 1-0 win at Swansea.

Barnsley, another side occupying a play-off spot, are at home against Middlesbrough, while Bournemouth, looking to move into the top six, host Coventry.

DEFENDER Tommy Elphick could be on the bench for Town today in their six-pointer against Rotherham.

Boss Carlos Corberan described Elphick as a “top professional” for the manner in which he’s worked hard to come back from careerthreatening knee surgery.

The 33-year-old underwent a knee operation in November 2019 and was expected to be out for the whole of this season.

Corberan said: “I wasn’t expecting to have him involved with the team because he had a long-term injury.

“He has shown he’s a top professional as he has worked on his recovery. In the last week he has worked with the team and then played a B team game. He could be an option from the bench.

“He’s a very experienced player and has had an amazing career in British football. He’s one player that we always analyse.”

Goalkeeper Ryan Schofield, defender Pipa and midfielder Alex

Vallejo face late fitness checks, while Carel Eiting, who suffered a knee injury in January, has returned to training.

“Sometimes he will do it individually, sometimes with the group,” said Corberan. “It’s about trying to develop his fitness levels faster.”