Norwich City boss Neil Adams aims to put on a show in the Canaries' first pre-season outing of the new campaign at non-league neighbours Dereham Town on Saturday (3pm KO).

Adams will use the short trip to Aldiss Park and next week's test at Conference Premier Braintree to give the majority of his troops a run-out, but the City chief is also looking for a winning start against the Magpies.

'We want to win of course and that is the philosophy every game we go into,' he said. 'It's a local game and its good to support the local football clubs. There'll be a few along to watch and the Norwich fans will be looking forward to seeing the new faces. It is about match fitness really. The players have worked ever so hard in training so far and I have made it clear how happy I am with that.

'It is now getting match minutes under their belt. Most of the players will get 45 minutes on Saturday and we'll take a large group of players. It is about getting those first minutes, similarly at Braintree, and then over in Italy we would look to give the players longer run outs.

'Right now it's about getting that understanding between them. We certainly won't be picking a team this weekend for Wolves on August 10. It is a case of mixing it up. We have a large group of players and it will be splitting them up into two teams.'

Adams, speaking to the club's official site, is looking to fine tune his preparations during a three-game Italian tour featuring games against Novara, Livorno and French outfit Bastia.

'I went out there about a month ago just to check the facilities and to play two Serie B teams and a French Premier League team will be a really good test for us those nine days we are out there,' he said. 'It's vitally important for me as part of the pre-season preparations. We talked about the value of the team bonding at St George's Park and it will be the same out in Italy, albeit with the addition of three very competitive games.'

Dutch international Leroy Fer will not be part of the squad travelling out to Italy on July 18 with the midfielder still involved in Holland's World Cup campaign. Fer was injured for Wednesday's semi-final penalty shoot-out defeat to Argentina but Oranje now face a third/fourth place play-off game on Saturday against the hosts Brazil.

'I did watch it and Leroy would have been doubly disappointed with his injury to miss out,' said Adams. 'Whether he was ready to go out there or not only the Dutch medical staff would know. We have our physio monitoring the situation and we believe he would have been close to be fit if they had got through that game and it would have been fantastic to have a Norwich City player through to a World Cup final.'

• Tickets for Dereham game are still on sale but the Magpies are advising supporters to book in advance by calling the club on 01362 690460. Tickets are priced at £10 for adults and £1 for children, with car parking passes £2. Tickets will also be available on the turnstile from 1pm on Saturday.