Sean Raggett will return to his parent club in January ahead of making his first appearance for the Canaries in the FA Cup third round.

City refused Lincoln City permission to play Raggett in the Imps’ first round exit at AFC Wimbledon last weekend.

Now Lincoln chief Danny Cowley has confirmed Raggett is wanted by his parent club for their bow in the competition early in the New Year, but no final decision has been made whether the 24-year-old centre back stays at Carrow Road for the rest of the season.

Under Football League rules, the powerhouse defender can only play for two clubs in the one season, which keeps open the option of a return to Sincil Bank.

“We’ll have to wait and see. A day is a long time in football, let alone nine weeks,” Cowley told the Lincolnshire Echo. “You don’t want to be without an important player, but he’s Norwich’s player and they’ve been excellent to deal with.

“They’re planning to involve him in that game and, if they do, that would be brilliant for Sean. They’re two months away from entering the third round but that is their thinking at present.”

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Raggett signed a three-year deal with Norwich City in August for an undisclosed fee, reportedly £250,000, after the Canaries beat off competition from a number of clubs to swoop for the defender before loaning him back to Lincoln until January.

Cowley is convinced City have signed a gem.

““Norwich are a great club and for us, we knew it was a really good move for Sean,” the former Braintree boss said after the deal went through in August. “While we didn’t want to lose him, for me I always treat the players like they’re my children and give them the advice I would give to my children.

“When Norwich showed their interest and the level of interest that they did, I would have been lying to him if I hadn’t told him I thought it was a really good move for him.

“And he’s ready as well, I think between us we’ve got the right pathway for him because he’s still young, he’s only been full-time for a year, prior to the Wycombe game this season he had never played a Football League game.

“So the exposure now to Football League games will continue his progress. He’s making such rapid progress here that’s he’s had that sort of springboard effect so it would be crazy to take him away from his environment at the moment while he’s improving day-in, day-out.”