Portugal international Nelson Oliveira has yet to make his debut for Norwich since making the summer switch from Benfica.
Nelson Oliveira celebrates after scoring the first goal for Nottingham Forest
Alex Neil has told the Eastern Daily Press that Nelson Oliveira will make his debut for Norwich City at Everton in tonight’s EFL Cup tie.
The 25-year-old Portuguese striker has failed to feature for the Canaries since making the £5 million move from Benfica last month.
The former Nottingham Forest and Swansea loanee’s preparations have been curtailed by a series of fitness issues but his manager is looking forward to unleashing him at Goodison Park.
Norwich manager Alex Neil
Speaking to Eastern Daily Press, Neil said “Nelson will be in the squad. I just want him to go and show everyone what he can do because training is one thing, once you get to the real games you are hoping that he is going to show up as well as I think he will. He’s technically very good.”
While Oliveira arrives at Carrow Road with a decent record, having scored nine while on loan at the City Ground last season, Norwich haven’t missed his goalscoring spark so far. They bagged six in the last round against Coventry.
They are also second in the Championship, just two points behind Huddersfield Town as they look to secure an immediate return to the top-flight. Everton are also second albeit in a higher division, having collecting 13 points from their opening five games under Ronald Koeman’s stewardship.
Nottingham Forest’s Nelson Oliveira in action with Charlton Athletic’s Morgan Fox
Norwich were dumped out of this tournament at Goodison Park in the fourth round last season but Neil has confirmed that the club’s priorities do not hinge on the cup competitions this campaign.
“Obviously we want to do well in the cup, we want to do well in every game we play in but our priority is the league,” he said. “Particularly the Championship, a lot of times you’ve got three games in a week, it starts again next week for us when we go Burton, Newcastle, Wolves, so that’s three massive games for us. That’s certainly going to be our priority.”
Nelson Oliveira scoring for Benfica
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