Norwich head coach Daniel Farke has been defending his decision to limit the starting chances of star midfielder Emiliano Buendia.

"It is important to be honest and straight forward. I think my comments on Emi were 95 per cent praise," Farke said.

"Some people have questioned why he is not on the pitch and I explained how his season developed.

"He was in fantastic shape in December and January but sadly he had this injury and was out for two and half weeks.

"Since this moment, he has been struggling to get back to 100 per cent and that is the reason he has not been playing every minute.

"It was to protect him. This is quite normal for a young player that there are ups and downs in a season.

"I am totally happy with his season so far but I also spoke about a few topics that he has to improve.

"It is important that our young players get lots of praise, they deserve it. We will always back them.

"But it is also important that we are honest and speak about the topics that we want to develop.

"In the moment when, as a head coach, I am not allowed to speak in an honest way about a player and how he has to improve, I will retire from this job.

"During the development of our young players there has been a lot of love, but sometimes accepting some hard love is also the right way."