Ricky Van Wolfswinkel Injury: Updates on Norwich City Star's Knee and Return

Norwich City have confirmed that their record signing Ricky van Wolfswinkel will miss his side's game against Aston Villa with a knee injury.    

According to the club's official Twitter account, the Dutchman picked up the knock in City's 1-0 win over Tottenham last weekend. Fortunately, it is not expected to keep him out for the long term, as the club's manager, Chris Houghton, confirmed he was close to being fit for their clash against Villa:

This latest news represents another blow for van Wolfswinkel, who has struggled to adapt to the Premier League since his move from Sporting Lisbon this summer. He netted on the opening day against Everton, but has failed to find the back of the net in the Premier League since.

Nonetheless, plenty associated with Norwich are backing him to come good and are clearly disappointed that he'll miss out at Villa Park:

His manager also told Joe Moore of talkSPORT that they have "great faith in him" to rediscover his goal touch. Houghton also suggested that adaptability will play a big part in his development, stating, "on occasion players need a little bit of time to adjust to the Premier League, while others hit the ground running."

Van Wolfswinkel will be hoping that this short injury layoff can refresh him ahead of what promises to be a crucial end to the season for Norwich. The bottom of the Premier League is exceptionally tight, and if the Dutchman can find his goalscoring form, then the Norfolk outfit will be much better placed to maintain their Premier League status.

Plenty of forwards have taken time to adapt to the rigours of English football before going on to be great successes in the Premier League. You suspect that in a toiling team lacking in creativity, we may have to wait until next season before we see the best of the Dutchman.