Danny Mills has missed out on the chance to face Norwich City on Saturday - but has warned his old club to underestimate the Tigers at their peril.Former England World Cup full-back Mills had to abandon plans for a third month on loan at Hull City after suffering a reaction to a stress fracture in his right tibia, an injury he suffered a year ago with Manchester City.

Danny Mills has missed out on the chance to face Norwich City on Saturday - but has warned his old club to underestimate the Tigers at their peril.

Former England World Cup full-back Mills had to abandon plans for a third month on loan at Hull City after suffering a reaction to a stress fracture in his right tibia, an injury he suffered a year ago with Manchester City.

But the 29-year-old defender will be at Carrow Road to watch the Coca-Cola Championship game and reckons Phil Parkinson's team, currently fourth from bottom of the table, still have enough firepower to upset a Norwich side managed by his former Canary team-mate, Peter Grant.

Said Mills: “Hull have a great group of players with lots of ability and an even better togetherness.

“The manager, in my opinion, is, although young, very good and now has a good coaching set-up around him.

“With all this armoury, I believe they have more than enough to beat Norwich and furthermore get to mid-table safety very soon.

“I will be at the game and I am likely to bump into a few old faces, one of whom may well be an old team-mate, now the Canaries' boss, Peter Grant. As a player, he was very determined and had a wealth of experience, which I'm sure has held him in good stead at West Ham and now at Norwich. I'm sure he'll go on to be a very good manager, but I'm hoping he'll wait until Monday to start!”

Two ex-Canaries are likely to be in the Tigers' line-up, however - midfielders Dean Marney and Jason Jarrett, both of whom had short stays at Carrow Road last season.

Marney, 22, was signed by Nigel Worthington and played 15 times last season before his loan spell from Tottenham was cut short by injury. He moved to Hull in the summer for a six-figure fee and has so far made 17 appearances.

Mills, who played nine times for Hull after joining them in September, said: “I have been very impressed with Dean Marney. Technically, he is very good, maybe something you'd expect from a former Spurs player, but his work rate and desire have been even more impressive.”

Jarrett, 27, has already played once at Carrow Road this season, for Preston, but has been on loan at the KC Stadium since the start of November, making three appearances. He played 15 times for the Canaries last term before moving to Deepdale. Both men are likely to keep their places despite Hull's 2-0 defeat at home to Stoke on Saturday.

Mills, now back with Manchester City and trying to regain fitness, is hoping to play again before Christmas. He said: “It's bitterly disappointing to find out you have an injury. I was just beginning to feel I was fully match fit and, as a team, we were beginning to turn the corner. I was more than happy to extend my loan for another month and looking forward to it, but these things happen in life.

“Fortunately, the injury isn't as bad as first feared. The diagnosis is a stress reaction, which all being well, with a couple of weeks' rest, should mean I'm back playing well before Christmas. It's now a case of getting fit as soon as possible and seeing what the January transfer window brings. Of course, I still want to play in the Premiership, but if nothing happens on that front I think I've shown I'm more than happy to play and acquit myself in the Championship.”

Mills, capped 19 times by England, said he was pleased to have helped Hull out of the bottom three.

“I hope the players and fans appreciated my efforts as I most definitely appreciated theirs,” he said. “Many were sceptical when I joined a club rock bottom of the division, but at the time I expressed my desire to play football and, not being one to shirk a challenge, I saw Hull as a great opportunity to try to make an impact. The players were fantastic in accepting and helping me settle very quickly and also thanks must go to the manager and the chairman, who was instrumental in bringing me to the club.”