Wilfried Zaha is in contention to finally make his first competitive appearance for David Moyes since moving to Manchester United, with the manager admitting the winger may be loaned out in January having failed to break into the first team.

Zaha, who has only featured in the Community Shield since his £15m move from Crystal Palace in the summer, is in line to face Norwich in Capital One Cup tie.

"I just don't think we have had the right opportunity to get him on as much as we would have liked," Moyes said. "We don't want to put him in too quickly. We want to make it the right time. I've said I would look at it in January as I wanted to have him here for six months to see how we work. I told him we would try to get him minutes but the competition in the wide areas we have with Nani, Antonio Valencia, Ashley Young, Adnan Januzaj and even Shinji Kagawa playing off the side means we are as strong there as anywhere.

"It's not that Wilf has done anything wrong, it's just that we have big competition and we have to try to make sure he gets some playing time. Unfortunately, we haven't done that with Wilf and if it's still the case in January, we would look at it. But he is very much in my plans and in my thoughts all the time."

Moyes has called on referees to protect Januzaj as he continues to make a major impact. The teenager, who is in line to start along with Saturday's match-winner Javier Hernández against Norwich, helped inspire the 3-2 win over Stoke and the manager believes his slender build belies a ferocious competitive instinct.

"If ever there was a boy who can take it," Moyes said, "it will be him. You just hope the referees give him the correct protection, and I'm sure they will, but he won't be moaning about it – he's a great lad and he'll bounce up and get on with it. You can kick him as hard as you like and it won't affect him."