CHRIS LAKEY Nigel Worthington declared himself delighted with Norwich City's first public outing of the summer. City’s only reported injury was to youngster Robert Eagle, who went off in the second half with a slight hamstring problem.

CHRIS LAKEY

Nigel Worthington declared himself delighted with Norwich City's first public outing of the summer.

“I am very pleased with that, it was a good workout,” said Worthington.

City's only reported injury was to youngster Robert Eagle, who went off in the second half with a slight hamstring problem.

“It was a good exercise, just about everybody got a good 45 minutes and a clean sheet and getting some goals was nice,” added Worthington.

“Young Robert, who has had a very impressive pre-season up to now, just started to feel this thigh a bit so rather than push and have him out for weeks we brought him off early so maybe by the start of next week he will be fit for the trip to Scotland.

“Pre-season has been very intense, they have had two sessions every day. There has been a heavy workload and all the players are a little bit stiff and sore but the mental toughness is very much part of what we are working on.

“All the players are fit. Youssef Safri has come back in good shape - the question we all have is can he go and play 15, 20 games on the trot? That is the big question and we will only find that out once the season starts. But he is in good shape and working hard, as are all the players and that is important if we are going to make our way forward.”

Worthington's next port of call is Cambridge on Saturday - something of a step up from last night.

“We are building up now with the games getting harder as we go along and the fitness side will get better,” said Worthington, who is again likely to field two different teams on Saturday. The selection picture is then likely to become clearer as they head for Scotland.

“We will be looking at an eleven for a longer period so they get used to playing for a longer period together,” he said.

One thing that was missing last night of course was a summer signing and Worthington admitted there was no guarantee that he would be taking any new faces north of the border next week.

“There is nothing hard and fast at the moment,” he said. “We will continue to work, as we have been doing. We are trying and if we can make anything happen we will do it. There isn't a lot of money about. We have made that clear and we have to shape things the best way for Norwich City.

“The one thing I won't do is bring in a player just for the sake of making a signing. A player has to add quality and try and help us move forward.”