Ashley Barnes is a major doubt for the final regular season game of Norwich City’s campaign as they look to secure their play-off status against lowly Birmingham City.
The Canaries go into the match at St Andrew’s, which Blues have to win to stand a realistic chance of remaining in the Championship, needing a point to be sure of finishing in the top six but reasonably safe in the knowledge that only a defeat and an eight goal swing will see them usurped by Hull City.
However, Barnes’ participation is massively in question after he limped out of last weekend’s draw with Swansea City inside the first quarter hour. Manager David Wagner admitted the 34-year-old, who has scored six times in 35 league games, has a knock.
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“Barnes has a calf injury,” the German said. “Luckily, it's not one of the major muscles so we won't rule him out for the rest of the season. He'll work hard in the treatment room with the medical department.
"We'll use what we have. In the last game, we were quite good offensively, we maybe didn't score as much as we should have. I have confidence in the team to do it without Barnesy if needed.”
Wagner is boosted by the likely availability of left back Dimitris Giannoulis, while experienced centre back Grant Hanley continues to work his way back to fitness: “Dimi is back in training, if everything goes to plan he'll be back in the squad on Saturday. Grant has had a second week now as well. Everyone else was fully involved." Former Blues loan man Onel Hernandez will not play again this season having broken his foot.
Wagner is mindful of what’s riding on the game for Blues and he insisted his team would not be holding anything back. "We want to play competitive games and win them. It would be the same if we were safe mathematically. We want to finish as high as we can - it's the same from match-day one to match-day 46.
"From the tactical approach, Birmingham use a different set-up that possible play-off contenders would use. In terms of occasion, the focus on the game is comparable which is good for us to experience. We want to do our job on Saturday.
"To be involved in such a big game, where it counts, is good for us. Everybody needs to keep their sharpness and concentration at the highest level. We have something big for us to be focused on, not on what's going on at Birmingham.
“This stage of the season compared with 12 months ago, this is super exciting, enjoyable. Last year, it was super exhausting. That's the truth. I'm ready, we're ready. Bring on Saturday, the guys are focused and sharp."
