Norwich face anxious wait over Nelson Oliveira and Christoph Zimmermann fitness before Arsenal trip

Norwich City will make a late decision on the respective forms of Nelson Oliveira and Christoph Zimmermann before Tuesday evening's (24 October) Carabao Cup fourth round trip to Arsenal, head coach Daniel Farke has confirmed.

Portugal striker Oliveira proved to be the centre of attention before the latest installment of the East Anglian Derby last week after declaring that the Canaries were a "better club" than rivals Ipswich Town. However, he eventually remained an unused substitute for the 1-0 win at Portman Road after some discomfort forced him out of the starting lineup.

The 26-year-old remains a crucial figure for Norwich despite an early-season spat with Farke and significant interest during the summer transfer window and has scored six goals in nine matches so far this term, including a dramatic 96th-minute equaliser against 10-man Hull City last weekend.

His inclusion would be a big boost for the Championship promotion hopefuls as they travel to face an Arsenal side that effectively ended Ronald Koeman's tenure as Everton boss with an emphatic 5-2 win on Sunday and Farke is optimistic that he could be in contention to play.

"He feels much better," the German told reporters at his pre-match press conference on Monday. "We have to take short-term decisions with him at the moment and it will be late decision. He will travel and have a short training session today and in the morning. He looked really sharp last week and I hope he is available for us.

"The old problems with his groin are done. He still feels some pain from his stomach and back and it goes into his groin and we can't find the reason why. He has also been seeing the dentist after problems with his teeth. It's pretty complicated but there may be a solution.

"Perhaps his body has to adapt. It's not easy for him or the whole group and it kills him in the head a little bit because he knows he is in good shape. Hopefully it improves."

Summer signing Christoph Zimmermann was replaced with 25 minutes remaining against Ipswich after sustaining a blow to his knee and just like Oliveira, it remains to be seen if the centre-back will be fit to face Arsenal.

"He took a hit against knee and it was quite swollen after the game," Farke said of his compatriot. "It didn't look too good but overnight, it developed in a good way.

"We will make a late decision on whether he's available to play. We are without Grant Hanley who is cup-tied so we have some problems in defensive terms. We'll do everything and I hope he can play tomorrow.

"It wasn't anything bad. He wasn't able to run and jump but he's a strong guy and he'll do everything to be available. It would be helpful if he is able to run and jump so we will see."

Farke further revealed that long-serving captain Russell Martin will travel with the senior squad to Arsenal after featuring for Norwich's Under-23 team in their Premier League 2 defeat of Southampton on Friday night following his recovery from a back problem.

However, Steven Naismith remains sidelined along with Alexander Tettey, Alex Pritchard, Jamal Lewis, Louis Thompson and Matt Jarvis. Marley Watkins will serve the final game of a three-match suspension, while Farke hopes to have both Marco Stiepermann and Josh Murphy available despite the pair suffering from a "bit of tonsillitis".