Godfrey to boost Norwich options

Norwich defender Ben Godfrey says he will be fit to face Manchester United after limping off in the draw with Bournemouth. Injuries have been hugely detrimental to Norwich’s pursuit of points in 2019-20 and it was feared they could have no fit central defenders for Sunday’s meeting with Manchester United.
Those fears arose after Godfrey had to be taken off five minutes into the second half of Saturday’s goalless draw at the Vitality Stadium.
The 21-year-old was a doubt for the clash after undergoing hernia surgery during the international break, which ruled him out of action for England’s under-21s.
Godfrey had been playing with the issue for a number of weeks due to a lack of options available to boss Daniel Farke.
Grant Hanley and Christoph Zimmermann have both featured this term but are currently on the sidelines with groin and ankle injuries respectively.
They aren’t expected to come back into the fold until December at the earliest while Timm Klose will be lucky to get any further game time this season due to a knee ligament injury.
Godfrey’s early exit on Saturday meant holding midfield pair Ibrahim Amadou and Alex Tettey had to play in the heart of defence, making it even more impressive that the Canaries were able to pick up their first clean sheet of the Premier League campaign.
But Norwich fans will be pleased to hear that Godfrey has played down the issue and is confident of being part of Farke’s plans for Sunday’s home meeting with United. “It’s looking good, I played 11 days post-op so 90 minutes was going to be tough anyway,” Godfrey said, speaking at a half-term signing session, meeting supporters at the Canaries’ fan hub at Jarrold Intersport, in Norwich city centre. “It just got a little bit sore in the second half, it had stiffened up at half-time when you cooled off. So it’s fine, nothing major, nothing to worry about, it’s just general soreness from how soon it was after the surgery, but it’s all good and I’ll be fit and available for this weekend.”