Norwich City v Blackburn: Johannes Hoff Thorup's preview

After an opening-day defeat to Oxford United that frustrated many, City did display green shoots in a frenetic 4-3 Carabao Cup victory over League One side Stevenage on Tuesday to help restore some calm. 

Johannes Hoff Thorup remained unhappy with aspects of that victory and has since begun the corrective work at Colney, continuing his mission to make progress on his style of play and methodology through frank conversations and intense training sessions. 

Despite some well-crafted goals in that cup clash, Thorup remained frustrated at some of their defensive behaviour. That is a key aspect to iron out ahead of today's visit by a Blackburn side that has netted 10 times in their opening two competitive matches. 

"I'm not satisfied with our defensive stuff. I don't think we were solid or strong enough. We allowed too many crosses in situations where we should deal better with it. We could have avoided these crossing situations and the corner kicks," City's boss said.

"That's something you have to be better at going into games when you know it's an opposition where it's a big part of their game. We will face that in the Championship as well. 

"We spent a fair amount of time this morning looking at situations from that game, and then offensively, we used some of the stuff that we did Tuesday night for this game because there were some good moments. 

"Four very good goals. I think that was a step in the right direction. Of course, there are a lot of details to improve and develop, but I think we took a step in the right direction."

Thorup is a process-driven coach and, as such, is placing emphasis on building a level of sustainable performance at Carrow Road rather than being outcome orientated in the belief that one will follow the other. 

"What is most important for me is that I make it very clear for the players that it's about performance," he said. 

"In football, you can play the best possible game and still lose. What we can affect is the performance, so that is always where we look. It's not like only because we win that we will be satisfied and be celebrating. 

"What's important for me is that every time we evaluate, we have meetings in the morning where we go through details; it's about the performance and what we can affect. That they also see a coach coming in the morning that is not too affected by the results at the weekend but by the performance and how we can improve."

Blackburn are the last away team in a competitive game to win at Carrow Road. A 3-1 victory on November 5 last year left David Wagner on the brink and City in 17th, before an almighty comeback, fuelled by a long unbeaten home record, saw them finish in the top six. 

That game was 286 days ago. Blackburn arrive at Carrow Road in rich goal-scoring form but will be without Sammie Szmodics, who completed his move to Ipswich Town on Friday. 

The Canaries have enjoyed Carrow Road home comforts since defeat to Blackburn in November. (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd)

Thorup has noticed a shift in approach from John Eustace's men this season, but believes Norwich can exploit their vulnerabilities. 

"I watched their game against Derby and some of their games from last year as well. I think there was a slight change in their approach against Derby," Thorup said. 

"They did well, especially in the first half. They played with good tempo in the game and looked calm on the ball to create good chances. They have some strengths where we need to be on our front foot and good in our pressing game. 

"They started well and we saw in that game that you can put them under pressure. There are parts of the game that we can see where we can hurt them." 

Norwich will be without midfield duo Jacob Sorensen and Christian Fassnacht for their opening Carrow Road clash. 

Both were sighted in protective boots at their 4-3 victory over Stevenage on Tuesday, and Thorup has confirmed they are looking at a period on the sidelines but that the double blow won't impact City's activity in the transfer market. 

"Unfortunately, it looks like both of them will be out for a while. I think that we are talking about a handful of weeks for both," the Canaries chief told the Pink Un. 

"It is a foot injury with Lungi and Achilles with Fasi, so they are not around the squad at the moment. I don't think [they will need surgery], but I don't think it is something that we can rule out completely. We will try to avoid it. 

"I don't think you should ever be too affected by injuries in terms of how you act in the market. It is more of a strategic decision, and you should plan when you have a squad, and you should expect that two or three players will be out consistently throughout a season. 

Jose Cordoba could be in line for his Norwich City debut this weekend. (Image: Paul Chesterton)

"It's more important how we started to look at the squad, the answers we got in pre-season and keep that strategy in mind in terms of the players that we bring in. It's fair to say that we look at all positions in the squad and see where we can strengthen the team."

More positively, Thorup is expecting a defensive boost in the form of Ben Chrisene and Jose Cordoba who have both re-joined training after missing the opening two matches of the competitive campaign. 

Cordoba, who only played 15 minutes during pre-season, will require time as City seek to build up his fitness reserves. 

"They are both in training. The plan is that they can both be around the squad for Saturday, but we will see how many minutes that will be in them," Thorup said. 

"(Is it too early for Cordoba to start?) Yeah, that's maybe fair to say. Also, with him, it's also a guy that we need to build up with the respect of him not having any setbacks so that he can perform for the whole season. That's more important. 

"Sometimes when you're in it, you can only think about the game on Saturday but we also have to think about the longer perspective. But, I think it would be good for him and for everyone to give him some minutes on Saturday."