Christoph Zimmermann is poised to make his 50th appearance for Norwich City tomorrow night.

The towering German followed head coach Daniel Farke across to England from Borussia Dortmund II last summer and has further chances to impress for the Canaries following injury to captain Grant Hanley.

'When you take a step back in order to judge his development in a calm situation, you can't praise him enough for his step up from the fourth tier in Germany to the Championship – 100 percent the toughest league in the world for the (physical) load,' Farke said of the 25-year-old defender.

'He was able to immediately be there with really good performances and maybe it was a bit ridiculous that he was not more involved with the first games of the season because even during pre-season whenever I needed him he was there with good performances.

'When we analysed the last season he was there with 35 appearances in the starting line-up, so not many players were there with more appearances and with nearly all the clean sheets he was on the pitch, to be honest.

'So it is no coincidence that we are there with a clean sheet again and he is starting so I'm totally pleased with Christoph.'

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Zimmermann has largely provided cover for Hanley and Timm Klose so far this season but played all of Saturday's encouraging 1-0 win over Middlesbrough.

He was signed on a free transfer from Dortmund and quickly established himself last season, earning a contract extension to take his deal through until 2021, with the option of a further year.

'He is developing and he can still improve and there are parts of his game he can improve,' Farke continued. 'For example in the first half (on Saturday) he gave one or two throw-ins away when he could be a bit more concentrated with the ball in this situation.

'But I can totally rely on Christoph, he is always there with an outstanding attitude, he is able to fight and defend, and also with leadership he speaks a lot.

'He understands what you want in tactical terms, he is an intelligent player and even if he is not on the pitch, if he is not in the squad or if he is on the bench, he is so supportive for the whole team and the whole group.

'So I think we can all be really pleased and happy that we have him.'