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Now the message is clear : another three points against high flying Norwich on Tuesday and Town's season is right back on track.
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The Story So Far
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| Town | Norwich |
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Town will hope that they have turned the corner after Friday nights win at home to Birmingham. Prior to Friday, the Mariners had lost seven of the last nine league games and were in a minor crisis. But the convincing 3-1 victory on Friday will have lifted confidence and hopefully given Lennie Lawrence's men, the result they needed to kickstart their season. At the start of the season, the Mariners were top of the division after five games, but a run of nine games without a league win has seen the Mariners slump into the bottom half of the table. This minor collapse had a giant killing cup act sandwiched in the middle. A 2-1 win at Anfield against Liverpool in October was the high point of the season so far, when after being 1-0 down in extra time the Mariners turned the game on it's head in one of the clubs greatest ever games. Now the Mariners will be hoping to put a run of results together after the victory on Friday, meaning an equally good performance come Tuesday night.
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Norwich have probably been the surprise package of the early division one promotion battle, currently sitting in a highly impressive 5th place. This has probably been to do with the impact of manager Nigel Worthington. Worthington took the reigns at Carrow Road in January after the resignation of previous boss Bryan Hamilton, and after keeping the Canaries well out of a relegation fight last season, built a squad this summer that could challenge for promotion, if their early season form is anything to go by. The Canaries squad has been bolstered by the signings that Worthington has made since he took charge. Scottish midfielder Gary Holt, Alex Notman, Zema Abbey, Adam Drury, Paul Crichton, Neil Emblem, Paul McVeigh, Marco Libbra and Mark Rivers have all made important contributions to the Anglian teams early success, and after Worhington signed a new contract last week, the side who in the past six seasons have simply lingered in mid table, will be hoping to consolidate their early season form, and will come to Blundell Park hoping for victory.
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Recent Form
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| Town | Norwich |
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| L | Palace | (a) | 2-3 |
| D | Portsmouth | (h) | 0-0 |
| W | WBA | (h) | 2-0 |
| W | Gillingham | (a) | 2-0 |
| L | Walsall | (a) | 0-2 |
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Overall League Record
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Leading Goalscorers (League + Cup)
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| Town | Norwich |
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| Jevons | 5 |
| Rowan | 4 |
| Boulding | 3 |
| Jeffrey | 2 |
| Pouton | 2 |
| Allen | 2 |
| Broomes | 2 |
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| Roberts | 7 |
| Libbra | 3 |
| McVeigh | 2 |
| Nedergaard | 2 |
| Abbey | 1 |
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Town Team News
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Lennie Lawrence is expected to keep the same team that beat Birmingham on Friday night except that Ben Chapman will replace the injured Alan Neilson at right back
Stuart Campbell will be missing for 2-3 weeks with an ankle ligament problem, as will Alan Neilson who has a calf strain
Michael Jeffrey is still out with a back strain, but will hope to play in the reserves this week.
Paul Raven is nearing full fitness and could make the bench. But Wayne Burnett and Steve Livingstone are still unfit.
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Norwich Team News
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Darren Kenton is definitely out with injury, meaning Steed Nedergaard continues at the back.
At Crystal Palace on Sunday, Norwich played Iwan Roberts as a lone striker with support from Mark Rivers and Paul Mcveigh on the wings. However on Tuesday, Worthington may try and expose Towns leaky defence by playing Rivers up front with ROBERTS.
Nigel Worthington has a fully fit squad to choose from, with only skipper Neil Emblem out with injury at the moment.
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Expected Line Ups
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| Town | Norwich |
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Danny Coyne
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| Probably Town's most prized asset in the team, Danny Coyne has transformed himself into an absolutely outstanding keeper in the last year, and was given his reward last season with the Player of the year award.
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| Ben Chapman
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| Whole-hearted player who is naturally a left full back, but had played in midfield and right back so far this season. Chapman will play at right back on Tuesday in the absence of Alan Neilson who is out with a calf strain.
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| Tony Gallimore |
| Solid left back who is a undoubtedly Town's first choice in that position, after signing for Town in 1996 from Carlisle for £230,000.
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Marlon Broomes
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| Centre half who has represented England at U21 level. Currently on loan from Blackburn where he is looking to get away from after failing to hold down a first team position there. |
| David Beharall |
| Young defender, in his third month on loan from Newcastle. His pace and anticipation is a major asset and it looks like he and Marlon Broomes could be the answer to Towns defensive problems. |
Michael Boulding
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| A lightening quick left sided player who is equally at home up front or on the wing. On Tuesday night was given his first start for Town, and is expected to continue down the left hand flank which has never seen a naturally left sided player play there for a whole season.
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Alan Pouton
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| Returned to the centre of midfield on Friday, where he was reunited with Stacy Coldicott. Pouton is a player who gives 110% all the time, being committed and passionate and hard in the tackle. |
| Danny Butterfield |
| Accomplished midfield player who just lately has covered at right back. Now Alan Nielsen has been signed for a year, it gives the 22 year old the chance to move back into an engine room where he has played a huge role in this season. |
Stacy Coldicott
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| Tough tackling central midfield player who has been sorely missed this season through injury. Now back to full fitness, Coldicott will be hoping to hold down a regular first team place. |
Phil Jevons
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| Scouser who was signed from Everton in the summer for £250,000.Scored THAT fantastic 35 yarder against Liverpool to send them into the next round of the cup. |
Bradley Allen
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| Experienced forward who had a good game on Friday night up front with Phil Jevons. Expected to keep that role on Tuesday. The former QPR hitman has hit the back of the net twice this season. |
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Robert Green
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| 21 year old goalkeeper who has fought off competition from former Town keeper Paul Crichton to keep the number one jersey. Highly rated by many people in the game and will learn a lot from Crichton's experience. |
| Steed Nedergaard |
| Danish defender signed last season from Odense. Negergaards experience will prove valuable to a young Canaries team this season. |
Adam Drury
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| Another relatively young player (23) who was snapped up at the end of last season from Peterborough United to help strengthen the defence. |
Malky Mackay
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| Experienced defender who is strong in the air and fearsome in the tackle. Former Celtic and Queens Park defender who always leads by example. |
Craig Fleming
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| Long serving defender who signed for £600,000 in 1997. Will be remembered by Town fans for his great own goal at Blundell Park last season. |
Gary Holt
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| Defensive midfielder who is a Scottish international. Signed by boss Nigel Worthington at the end of last season from Scottish Premier division side Kilmarnock. |
| Darrel Russell |
| A product of Norwich's youth system who has represented England in the pentathlon! The skilful midfielder is still very young at the age of 21 and is definitely one for the future. |
Phillip Mulryne
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| Former Manchester United midfielder who scored his first goal for Norwich against the Mariners with a free kick in the 1999/00 season at Blundell Park. The midfielder has warmed himself to the Canaries faithful with his accurate passing and vision. |
| Chris Llewellyn |
| Left sided player who is expected to start for Norwich in a 4-42 system. Llewellyn is a player who has represented Wales at every level and is highly rated. |
Iwan Roberts
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| City's target man who is a firm fans favourite. The experienced frontman has been the Canary's top scorer for the last three seasons. His former clubs include Leicester and Wolves. |
Mark Rivers
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| Former Crewe striker who was signed by Worthington in the summer to partner Iwan Roberts up front. The lively forward scored against the Mariners twice last season for the Railwaymen. |
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| Subs | Subs |
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| Jonathan Rowan |
| Menno Willems |
| Paul Groves |
| Paul Raven |
| Steve Crousdon (GK) |
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| Daryl Sutch |
| Brian Mcgovern |
| Marco Libbra |
| Paul McVeigh |
| Paul Crichton (GK) |
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Last Time Out
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The last time the two sides met was at Carrow Road where the Canaries ran out 2-1 winners thanks to goals from Iwan Roberts and Chris Llewellyn in a game witnessed by 17,461 people. Towns goal that afternoon was from Stuart Campbell, when he was set up by a head from Michael Jeffrey. This game saw the last appearances made by Andy Marshall and Zhang EnHua for their respective clubs. At Blundell Park, in December last year, Town won 2-0 in an untidy game. A Craig Fleming own goal gifted Town the lead, and it wasn't until David Nielsen blasted in a goal that the points were secured.
Town Team: Coyne, McDermott, Gallimore Groves, EnHua, Coldicott, Donovan, Pouton, Campbell, Cornwall, Jeffrey.
Norwich Team: Marshall, Sutch, Drury, Mackay, Fleming, Holt, Forbes, Mulryne, Roberts, Peshchisolido, Llewellyn.
Report
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Norwich Head-to-Head
(93rd on The Opposition Ladder).
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Fishy Prediction
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After the 3-1 win on Friday, Town should be confident of winning this game, and I back them to do just that.
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Prediction: Canaries swept away by the Fishy Folk.
2-1 Town
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