Neil Adams is ready to wait until Norwich City striker Gary Hooper is in tip top shape before unleashing him on the Championship.

Hooper has not played a single minute of the club's league campaign this season after suffering a calf injury during the pre-season build-up.

The 26-year-old is unlikely to feature again on Saturday against Rotherham at Carrow Road after a development outing earlier in the week, and a heart-to-heart with City boss Adams.

'I spoke to Hoops on Thursday and by his own admission he doesn't feel he is right yet,' said Adams, on the man who plundered 19 goals for Scunthorpe during his only previous season in the second tier. 'He was out for seven weeks and it affects players differently. He needed the 90 minutes at Southampton and that, for me, is good to hear that type of honesty from him. He'll train, he is available for selection, but by his own admission he is not at his sharpest yet.'

Adams aims to get the likes of Hooper and Belgian summer signing Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe more action during the upcoming international break.

'Vadis, again, had a thigh injury and although he has been training was probably not at his sharpest as well during this early-season period,' said Adams. 'He is another we want to get up to speed as quickly as possible because they are two players who would feature largely in my thoughts.

'We'll probably be organising a behind-closed-doors game next week to get the players some more minutes. The Capital One Cup was a great opportunity to do that, which we no longer have, so we have to provide games for them and that is something we aim to do.'