Norwich City allay fears Martin Olsson set for long term lay-off after shoulder surgery

Norwich City have insisted Martin Olsson is not poised to miss the opening two months of the Premier League season after undergoing successful shoulder surgery.

The Swedish defender had been troubled by a long standing problem that required surgery in the immediate aftermath of the club's Wembley Championship play-off final triumph against Middlesbrough.

Olsson missed his country's internationals against Norway and Montenegro as he recovered from the operation, but City boss Alex Neil confirmed on Friday afternoon the 27-year-old is now well into his rehabilitation programme.

The left-back is poised to miss the Premier League kick-off against Crystal Palace on August but Neil is confident he will not be without the defender's services over a longer period, after speculation Olsson was set to be sidelined for up to two months.

'As soon as the season finished, Martin had an operation on his shoulder, which was an ongoing issue for him. There were a couple of games last season where he played through the pain,' Neil told the club's official site. 'We needed to make sure for Martin's sake that it stopped being an ongoing issue.

'He's well into his rehab now, which is going well. The operation was successful; it's just a case of how quickly we can get him back, we'll know more in the next few weeks as we continue to monitor his progress. He'll be back in contention as close to the start of the season as possible.'

Olsson and Harry Toffolo are the recognised left-backs in Norwich's current squad after Javier Garrido was released although Steven Whittaker has operated in that position during his career.