Sebastien Bassong believes Norwich City will miss injured captain Grant Holt – but revealed his time on the sidelines may not be as long as some expect.

The centre-back has proven to be one of the buys of the summer for Chris Hughton as the Canaries look to build on their current 10-game unbeaten Premier League run at faltering West Brom on Saturday afternoon (3pm).

But they head into a festive schedule of five games in 15 days possibly having to deal with the absence of Holt, who suffered a hamstring injury during City's 2-1 win over Wigan last weekend.

The number nine has not trained this week and is highly unlikely to feature at The Hawthorns – but Bassong was happy to suggest Holt will be able to play a part over the holiday season. And that would be welcome news for City boss Chris Hughton and Canaries followers everywhere, with Chelsea, Manchester City and a tricky trip to West Ham all on the horizon.

'Yes we are going to miss him,' said Bassong. 'I don't know how long he is going to be out for – he may be back quicker than some people think. Hopefully he will be back quickly and that will be a good thing for us.

'We are in a great run at the moment. We are really delighted about it, especially after the poor start we had. Now we are good.

'It is going to be a tough game at West Bromwich. We know what to expect going there and they are really lively up front, so we have to go there and give our maximum to get a result.

'They are two massive games coming up, Boxing Day against Chelsea is going to be really important for us and it makes this game against West Bromwich even more important because we don't know what's going to happen in the next two games. So if we get a chance to grab a point or something, we will be delighted.'

Having moved from Tottenham in the summer, Bassong has settled into Norfolk life with ease. What is harder to explain is City's rise that has seen them overhaul almost an entire 11-point and 15-place gap to the Baggies at the start of October.

'If I knew I would tell you straight away,' Bassong told Talksport. 'We have just been working hard in training and the gaffer told us to keep the belief, keep a good spirit, a winning spirit, and he kept telling us to believe in ourselves – and I think that is why we are here now.

Bassong added: 'Norwich is a totally different life to London. It is the opposite. London is the capital and Norwich is a small, quiet city. But I am used to that because I used to live in Newcastle, so I know this type of city and it suits me well.'

Bassong is expected to make his 16th Premier League appearance for Norwich at The Hawthorns, and is currently City's second highest scorer alongside Robert Snodgrass with three goals, behind Holt's league tally of four.

All the defender's goals coming from his last five league appearances.