Play-off hopefuls Norwich City will be without a raft of first team players when they travel to Leeds United this week. The Canaries enter the clash on the back of a disappointing 2-0 defeat away to Sheffield United.

Head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup named a bench at Bramall Lane featuring six youngsters with only two substitute league appearances between them at kick-off. Centre-back Jose Cordoba is the latest player to join their lengthy injury list. Thorup confirmed the defender suffered a fresh knee injury following the FA Cup loss at home to Brighton and Hove Albion, ruling him out of the trip to Elland Road.

Thorup's options have been particularly hit hard in the midfield department, with Marcelino Nunez, Liam Gibbs, Jacob Sorensen, Anis Ben Slimane, Gabriel Forsyth and Tony Springett all on the sidelines. Leading marksman Borja Sainz will serve the third of his six-match suspension for a spitting offence and new recruit Matej Jurasek is unable to feature due to post-Brexit regulations. Ashley Barnes, Christian Fassnacht, Kaide Gordon and Grant Hanley have also left the club since the January transfer window opened, leaving the Canaries down to the bare bones.

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Speaking ahead of the meeting with Sheffield United, Thorup said: "It's always exciting to play against the best teams in the league. Sheffield United are one of them and Leeds next week will be another one of them. It's always exciting.

"We never go there to see it as a test or as an experience, we go there to win and to try and win in the way we want to do it. It builds so much into the rest of the season but also next season.

"There are many aspects of this - the psychological part, which is about what we're going to do, how we're going to approach it, how we want to create our passing game, and how much do we dare to do.

"That's the style we always have, even travelling away from home knowing it's been difficult for us, but we have to learn it, keep on doing it, take the learning out of it and see if we can be a little better in the next one."

City sit in 11th position, five points outside of the play-off positions.