John Ruddy underlined in a losing Premier League cause against Arsenal why he deserves to be part of England's World Cup squad, insisted Norwich City boss Neil Adams.

Roy Hodgson is poised to announce his provisional 23-man party, along with seven standby players, on Monday afternoon for a pre-World Cup training camp in Spain and friendlies against Peru, Honduras and Ecuador.

Ruddy is in a battle with the likes of Celtic's former Norwich loanee Fraser Forster and West Brom's Ben Foster to provide back-up to first choice Joe Hart but the 27-year-old was at his shot-stopping best to deny the Gunners.

Aaron Ramsey's superb dipping volley broke his resistance early in the second half at Carrow Road before Carl Jenkinson sealed the win but Adams believes Ruddy underlined his international class.

'I thought he was outstanding. He kept us in the game with two or three excellent saves,' he said. 'There was a couple of them where you thought they were in and he has somehow managed to get to them. The one from (Olivier) Giroud was a fantastic save. He was clearly our best player by a long way and I will keep my fingers crossed for him.

'Of course that is up to the people who pick the England squad but if anyone was wavering about who goes then his performance here will have done him no harm at all. I know it is picked over the course of a season but I was really pleased for John.'

Ruddy kept City in a game which the FA Cup finalists dominated through their mastery of midfield.

'I thought the performance was flat,' said Adams. 'It is for others to decide whether that was because of the situation and what had happened to us. We wanted more than that on the day. I wanted more and the quality was not there on the ball.

'We set up okay to stop them playing but we didn't retain the ball well enough to give them a problem and you always struggle against a team like Arsenal who base their game on possession. It is one thing to stop them playing but when got it we gave it back too cheaply. That is going to tell eventually and the first goal is a fantastic strike.'

Ruddy and Martin Olsson were edged out by Robert Snodgrass in the player-of-the-year running which presented before kick-off.

The Scot has already been linked with the likes of Newcastle and West Ham, along with a return north-of-the-border to his boyhood club Celtic, and Adams knows he will be in demand this summer.

'He got the player-of-the-year and he fully deserved it,' he said. 'He has been a shining light and if nothing else his work rate has been fantastic, but he has got quality as well and I am sure there will be people who are interested.

'It is a fact of life that other clubs will come looking for our best players. You have to hope we can keep as many as we can because the aim has to be having a crack at coming straight back up.'