Norwich City striker Ashley Barnes has undergone calf surgery that looks set to rule him out of the Championship kick-off.
The 34-year-old, who missed the team’s trip to Belgium last week as well as the first friendly against Northampton, was recently seen on crutches attending a social gathering with a few former Burnley teammates.
Barnes has not participated in preseason team training thus far, according to New City head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup, who stated that the ailment that had hampered his effectiveness at the end of the previous campaign is still bothering him.
A calf operation typically requires six to eight weeks of recuperation. City will kick off their Championship season on August 10 at Oxford.
Barnes entered the game late from the bench on April 27 and played for 15 minutes in a home league match against Swansea.
After further scans, former manager David Wagner confirmed a calf injury, but City’s medical staff managed to bring him back on the pitch for 81 minutes during the second leg of the play-off semi-final defeat at Leeds in early May.
However, the decision was made for the seasoned frontman to have surgery this summer. Barnes’ knee injury against Leicester last Christmas also kept him out of action for six weeks.
After leaving the Clarets, the forward signed a two-year contract as a free agent, and in his first season, he contributed 11 goals in 35 Championship games for Norwich. However, Thorup has not had an opportunity to evaluate the striker in action.
Barnesy is still not fully recovered from the injury he sustained at the end of the season. The Dane added, “And we’ve kept him out of training.” Therefore, we must evaluate him and wait to decide how to proceed with him; from what I can tell, this will take some time.
He still having trouble with the same ailment, so we need to figure out how to get him ready as soon as possible. However, I believe it will require some time.
Josh Sargent and Adam Idah are Thorup’s top alternatives up front, despite the fact that both have been connected to moves abroad throughout this transfer window.
Young player Ken Aboh signed a new contract earlier this summer, pledging his future to the team. Tuesday night at Wroxham, the 19-year-old striker scored for the Under-21s and was on target at Sixfields.
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