Norwich City’s Neil Adams plans to harness the element of surprise against Wolves
Norwich boss Neil Adams did not see Martin Olsson's altercation with the official after his second yellow card in the 1-0 Championship defeat at Wolves. Picture by Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd - Credit: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd
Neil Adams aims to catch rival boss Kenny Jackett off guard when he unveils his Norwich City starting line up for the big Championship kick-off at Wolves.
The Canaries' final pre-season friendly outing against Celta Vigo looked to contain plenty of clues to Adams' mindset for Sunday's Molineux opener, but the City chief has spent the summer ensuring his charges are as unpredictable as possible.
'No, Celta was not the starting line up I have in mind,' he said. 'We made a little change to the formation from how we had set-up before that because it's the first time we had a chance to play Lewis (Grabban) and Kyle (Lafferty) together and that has been the frustrating thing for me. I wouldn't read into it that will be my Wolves line up.
'I just felt we needed to have a look at that and ideally it would have come a few games earlier this summer. That wasn't possible so it's not guaranteed to be my starting line up at Wolves but it has given us an idea.
'You are going to have to have a plan B and a plan C and not just from game to game but during matches. You saw that against Vigo that I changed it second half and it got us a foothold in the game and we could have nearly won it. For me, that is the game as a manager - being tactically aware to react.'
Adams knows the true test of his planning will come in the Black Country and during the opening skirmishes ahead.
'I'm really pleased overall with the games and the camps we had in St George's Park and Italy but of course it all counts towards what happens on Sunday,' he said. 'I think the preparations have been good, the fitness work we have done has been excellent and the players have been receptive to what I want to do in terms of trying different formations.
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'We have not just stuck to the tried and tested and we are going to have show that in the Championship without a shadow of doubt. The only thing I would have liked to avoid is the injuries and niggles.'