Canaries pair in Blues return bid

Chris Hughton is hoping to have Anthony Pilkington and Sebastien Bassong back in contention for Norwich's trip to Chelsea next weekend.

The Canaries chief was without both players because of respective hamstring and back problems as Liverpool romped to a 5-2 victory at Carrow Road on Saturday. However, while Hughton confirmed they 'were not close' to playing against the Reds, he hopes for better news ahead of the clash with the European champions at Stamford Bridge. Hughton, whose side have now shipped five goals in two of their opening six Premier League matches, also lifted the lid on why he omitted Wes Hoolahan from his starting XI despite a promising performance in the defeat at Newcastle a week earlier. He told the Eastern Daily Press24: "I wanted to go four across midfield and Wes had played off the front for me the other week. With us at home I wanted us to seize the opportunity to be more aggressive and play with two strikers. That is the only reason why we left him out. "We know what he can give the team but with Wes in the side you have to adjust that midfield slightly and with what they had in the wide areas we had to make sure we had a four across there. It is always a tough decision. "Wes on the pitch today, if we look at the overall performance, would not have changed too much for us overall as a defensive unit."