Jonny Howson's knee injury will be fully assessed when the Canaries return to England later on Saturday afternoon after he was forced off in the first half of Friday night's 1-1 friendly draw against SC Bastia in Sallanches.

The influential midfielder was the stand-out performer for the Canaries in the first part of last season's Premier League campaign prior to suffering a festive back problem and Neil Adams admits he does not want to be without him for any length of time.

'He kicked through the player as he was about to play a pass and caught the lad. He has just tweaked his knee at the minute,' said Adams. 'He was in the changing room with an ice pack on his knee. I asked him, 'How is it?' and he felt it wasn't too bad but those are the ones where the first 24 hours are key. I mean Jonny Howson is a key player for us so fingers crossed he is okay.'

Adams' delivered a positive injury bulletin on Northern Irish international Kyle Lafferty after scans on a shin injury confirmed no major muscle damage. Lafferty missed both games of City's two-date Italian training trip after originally picking up the problem at Colney last week.

'Kyle had his scan and it really is bad luck that the injury he picked up last week is on the same leg, just slightly higher. It is a million to one chance,' said Adams. 'He had a bang on his shin just before he came out at Colney and of course he gets a smack on the same area or just above it.

'Thankfully the scan has shown no tear in the muscle. There is a lot of bleeding, which is the best case scenario, and he is in a protective boot as a precaution. The best case scenario in terms of recovery is three to four days so he is probably unlikely to feature against Nice.'

Lewis Grabban was sat next to Lafferty watching the action against Bastia but did a fitness work-out prior to the match and could be in line for his Carrow Road debut at home to Nice on Monday after suffering soreness in his Achilles. Alex Tettey (groin) was another absentee but Adams confirmed experienced trio John Ruddy, Russell Martin and Martin Olsson were simply rested for the battles ahead.

'Lewis was working before the game and he looked very strong so if he has no reaction in the morning then there is no reason he can not be back with us for Sunday's training session,' said the City chief. 'Alex has a slight groin strain so we are monitoring that.'