Norwich City defensive duo Grant Hanley and Timm Klose have been ruled out of Saturday’s clash against West Ham United.
The Hammers welcome Norwich to the London Stadium looking to extend their winning run to three games in-a-row after victories away at Watford and Newport County.
Canaries’ manager Daniel Farke confirmed to the official Norwich website on Friday, that both Hanley and Klose will not take part against West Ham.
“Unfortunately Grant Hanley is out for tomorrow,” he said.
“Timm Klose has had a scan but he will need another scan next week.”
Hanley has captained the Norwich side in the opening three weeks of the Premier League due to the absence of Christoph Zimmermann and has been a part of the league’s leakiest defence – conceding eight goals.
OPINION
West Ham forwards will be rubbing their hands together at the prospect of lining up against a weaker Norwich defence on Saturday. Even with the influential Zimmermann returning, the German enforcer still won’t be fully up to scratch, if the 60 minutes in the defeat to Crawley are anything to go by. Even if Hanley didn’t play a major part last season in promotion, he still captained the side at the start of the season and will be a big loss in the heart of a very young defence. The Canaries score goals with ease, but they ship them at the back even easier, and with the loss of a defensive duo hanging over their shoulders it could get ugly at the London Stadium. Farke must put experience at the back or Sebastien Haller will run riot, with the Frenchman bullying an experienced Watford backline the last time around, winning seven aerial duels according to WhoScored. Norwich will have been crossing their fingers over their defence, but with two players confirmed to be out, it could be a long afternoon in East London.
