Norwich City boss Paul Lambert warned no-one should be fooled by Newcastle's recent dip in form or mounting injury problems ahead of Saturday's Premier League test at Carrow Road.

Lambert is looking for a positive response from last weekend's 5-1 defeat at leaders Manchester City, but the Scot knows exactly what it will take to beat a Newcastle outfit who have lost two of their last three league games and travel to Norfolk beset by a central defensive injury crisis. Lambert's options in that area of the field look far healthier for once compared to opposite number Alan Pardew. Ritchie De Laet will not feature (back) this weekend but Zak Whitbread was on the bench at the Etihad and Dani Ayala has also re-joined the first team squad after hamstring and knee injuries respectively.

'They have done fantastically well. They haven't lost many games,' he said. 'Alan has done terrifically well up there when you consider the expectancy level of that club. I say it every week but this is another tough one. Newcastle have performed really well as a team but we're at home. The onus is on us.

'I don't know if they will be weakened (by the injuries). I have had the same problem myself with Whitbread, Elliott (Ward) and Ayala out at the same time and we had to put Russell (Martin) in there. We've coped fine with it and I'm sure Newcastle will the same.

'The nature of the game is you have to expect injuries and suspensions. I'm pretty sure he'll trust the lads who he puts in to do a job for him.'