Norwich City boss Alex Neil is prepared to wait for midfielder Youssouf Mulumbu to return to full fitness before throwing him into the Premier League fray.

Mulumbu joined Norwich in the summer as a free agent after leaving West Bromwich Albion but has been unable to make his debut for the Canaries due to a broken metatarsal suffered in pre-season.

Neil confirmed, however, that although he is keen for Mulumbu to play soon he would not be rushing the DR Congo midfielder back into the team so as to prevent aggravating the injury.

Ahead of Sunday's trip to Newcastle United, Neil said: "With Youssouf it is just a case of getting him up to speed now in terms of playing games, but when a player has been out for so long you don't want to rush him back and risk re-injuring that injury or a causing different one."

"So we are probably looking to introduce him back into a game situation potentially next week and we will push Youssouf to the brink to get him fully fit as quickly as possible."