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Win, lose or draw tonight, discussion in the manager’s office after the final whistle is bound to drift in the direction of Norwich striker Gary Hooper.
Neil Lennon is hoping he doesn’t have to deal with his former Celtic charge at Carrow Road, where he looks to build on a fine start to life with Bolton.
But if Hooper continues his purgatory on the Canaries bench it is a safe bet to assume the Wanderers boss will ask a question of his opposite number Neil Adams before stepping back aboard the team bus heading north.
Hooper scored 60 goals in his last two seasons under Lennon but since leaving Parkhead has managed just six in 24 starts.
While Lennon refused comment on the chances of signing the 26-year-old on loan, he was happy to endorse his talents.
“He’d better not come on,” he smiled. “I know him better than most having had him for two years at Celtic. I know what he’s capable of and he’s an excellent player.
“Norwich kept hold of a lot of Premier League players but they’ve added strikers like Lewis Grabban and Cameron Jerome, who have really hit the ground running.
“Add Gary to that and Kyle Lafferty, who is playing out of his skin for his country, then they are primed for going up. I think they will go on and win the Championship because of the quality in their squad.”
Lennon might admit to a couple of admiring glances to the opposition bench tonight but he is also convinced he has enough quality in his own ranks to get a job done.
“I suppose the shoe is on the other foot now – I suppose people would have been envious of me up at Celtic,” he said.
“It doesn’t matter. That’s not me. My players should be looking at this as a challenge. They should be licking their lips.
“The game is on TV and that adds a little bit more excitement, it’ll be a big test of character for my players and I’ll find out a little bit more about them after the game.”
Norwich’s form might have stuttered a little in recent weeks, their last home win in the Championship coming in late August, but the recently-relegated side could still climb into the top two with three points tonight.
Lennon was one of the names touted for the Canaries job before it eventually went to Adams full-time in the summer.
But the Northern Irishman feels the club made a good choice in appointing Chris Hughton’s successor from within.
“I think the club made a good decision to bring him in because he’d been there, he knows the club,” he said.
“He had a really difficult run-in that I don’t think Jose Mourinho could have handled as well as he did and they have got off to a decent start.
“Maybe the form is a little bit patchy but they are still only three points off the top so they are formidable opponents.
“We’ll be heavy underdogs but the players will relish that.
“I don’t know if it’s a good time to play them.”
The next seven days will go a long way into deciding just how much transfer business Lennon does between now and the end of the season.
“It’s three tough games in a week now, counting Wigan, and that’s what I’m going off.
“Norwich and Cardiff were Premiership last season, Wigan were not so long ago and FA Cup winners, so it’s three real tests but games we are really looking forward to.
“This will give me the yardstick of where we are and what we need to do going forward.
“I know what I have got in that squad is good enough to compete with anything in this division when they are at it.
“As a backroom team we’ve got to make sure they are concentrating and playing the kind of football they are capable of.
“The football has been of a very high quality against Charlton and Brentford. The work rate and team ethic has been very, very good.
“It’s more of the same really.”
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Neil Lennon is hoping he doesn’t have to deal with his former Celtic charge at Carrow Road, where he looks to build on a fine start to life with Bolton.
But if Hooper continues his purgatory on the Canaries bench it is a safe bet to assume the Wanderers boss will ask a question of his opposite number Neil Adams before stepping back aboard the team bus heading north.
Hooper scored 60 goals in his last two seasons under Lennon but since leaving Parkhead has managed just six in 24 starts.
While Lennon refused comment on the chances of signing the 26-year-old on loan, he was happy to endorse his talents.
“He’d better not come on,” he smiled. “I know him better than most having had him for two years at Celtic. I know what he’s capable of and he’s an excellent player.
“Norwich kept hold of a lot of Premier League players but they’ve added strikers like Lewis Grabban and Cameron Jerome, who have really hit the ground running.
“Add Gary to that and Kyle Lafferty, who is playing out of his skin for his country, then they are primed for going up. I think they will go on and win the Championship because of the quality in their squad.”
Lennon might admit to a couple of admiring glances to the opposition bench tonight but he is also convinced he has enough quality in his own ranks to get a job done.
“I suppose the shoe is on the other foot now – I suppose people would have been envious of me up at Celtic,” he said.
“It doesn’t matter. That’s not me. My players should be looking at this as a challenge. They should be licking their lips.
“The game is on TV and that adds a little bit more excitement, it’ll be a big test of character for my players and I’ll find out a little bit more about them after the game.”
Norwich’s form might have stuttered a little in recent weeks, their last home win in the Championship coming in late August, but the recently-relegated side could still climb into the top two with three points tonight.
Lennon was one of the names touted for the Canaries job before it eventually went to Adams full-time in the summer.
But the Northern Irishman feels the club made a good choice in appointing Chris Hughton’s successor from within.
“I think the club made a good decision to bring him in because he’d been there, he knows the club,” he said.
“He had a really difficult run-in that I don’t think Jose Mourinho could have handled as well as he did and they have got off to a decent start.
“Maybe the form is a little bit patchy but they are still only three points off the top so they are formidable opponents.
“We’ll be heavy underdogs but the players will relish that.
“I don’t know if it’s a good time to play them.”
The next seven days will go a long way into deciding just how much transfer business Lennon does between now and the end of the season.
“It’s three tough games in a week now, counting Wigan, and that’s what I’m going off.
“Norwich and Cardiff were Premiership last season, Wigan were not so long ago and FA Cup winners, so it’s three real tests but games we are really looking forward to.
“This will give me the yardstick of where we are and what we need to do going forward.
“I know what I have got in that squad is good enough to compete with anything in this division when they are at it.
“As a backroom team we’ve got to make sure they are concentrating and playing the kind of football they are capable of.
“The football has been of a very high quality against Charlton and Brentford. The work rate and team ethic has been very, very good.
“It’s more of the same really.”
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