please log in to view this image Round 31 please log in to view this image please log in to view this image Norwich City 2 - 0 Wolverhampton Wanderers FT 90+5' HT 1 - 0Johnson 28' Grabban 67' Attendance: 26,322 Date: Saturday 14th February 2015 Venue: Carrow Road Kick-Off: 3:00PM KIO's not 606 Match Preview With 16 games remaining of the Sky Bet Championship campaign the Canaries go into Round 31 knowing that if they are to keep their hopes of automatic promotion back to the Premier League at the first attempt alive 3 points are a must. City will want to avenge their opening day defeat at The Molineux where they were beaten by a solitary Dave Edwards goal. Last time out City were victorious at The Valley where despite surrendering a 2 goal half-time lead, they eventually secured all 3 points courtesy of substitute Cameron' Jerome's 15th goal of the season. Despite a scare City leave the Valley with the spoils The return to form of City striker Lewis Grabban should see him keep his place in the starting line-up while deadline-day signing Tony Andreu should again be on the bench. Gary O'Neil (toe), Elliott Bennett and Ryan Bennett (both hamstring) are likely to be absent once more. Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe (knee) won't be available despite playing 90 minutes for the Under-21s against Leicester City on Monday. While Norwich were celebrating their win over the Addicks, Wolves were thumping Huddersfield 4-1 at the John Smith's Stadium, Nouha Dicko grabbing a brace in the process. The victory ended a run of three matches without a win for Kenny Jackett's side and moved them to within 2 points of seventh placed Norwich and 4 points of sixth placed Brentford. They have now lost only once in 12 games in all competitions so will be in confident mood when they visit East Anglia on Saturday. Carl Ikeme and Tommy Rowe are both sidelined after breaking bones in a foot but they are Wolves' only absentees. Alex Neil's Match Preview City chief Alex Neil previews tomorrow's game “I think at times you get defining moments in seasons, and this game on Saturday is going to be a defining moment for us and probably for Wolves as well,” he admitted. “It’s one of those games where we can force our way, hopefully, into the top six and make sure that we’re fighting for those play-offs places. If we lose, then it’s going to be a tough task. “I think you’ve got to build a bit of momentum. The last thing you want to do is have a good performance, a good win, but then go flat the next week and not pick up another three points. I think the Charlton win sets the game up against Wolves perfectly.” “The sole focus is to go and win the match. We’re not going for a draw and we’re not going to sit in, we’ll play the way we play and we’ll go and get at Wolves and hopefully cause them as many problems as we can.” On Wolves, he commented: “Kenny Jackett’s done fantastic. He’s been there for a couple of years now, which is great because it lets him build continuity within the squad. “They’re a group that’s been together for a couple of years, so it’s always easier to work when you’ve had that and I think they’re seeing the benefits of that now.” Kenny Jackett's Match Preview Kenny Jackett gives his thoughts Current Form Norwich City W – 2-3 v Charlton (A) 10/02/2015 - Championship W – 4-0 v Blackpool (H) 07/02/2015 - Championship D – 0-0 v Birmingham (A) 31/01/2015 - Championship L – 1-2 v Brentford (H) 24/01/2015 - Championship W – 3-2 v Cardiff City (H) 17/01/2015 – Championship NORWICH HOME Norwich have won 5, drawn 2 and lost 4 of the last 11 stagings of this fixture, outscoring their opponents by 13 goals to 12. Norwich have scored in 85% of their last 20 home games. Norwich have kept a clean sheet in 20% of their last 20 home games. Wolverhampton Wanderers W – 1-4 v Huddersfield (A) 10/02/2015 - Championship L – 1-2 v Reading (H) 07/02/2015 - Championship D – 2-2 v Bolton (A) 31/01/2015 - Championship D – 0-0 v Charlton (H) 24/01/2015 - Championship W – 2-0 v Blackpool (H) 17/01/2015 – Championship WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS AWAY Wolves have won 4, drawn 2 and lost 5 of the last 11 stagings of this fixture, being outscored by their opponents by 13 goals to 12. Wolves have scored in 75% of their last 20 away games. Wolves have kept a clean sheet in 40% of their last 20 away games. Match History Wolves' biggest win over City came in January 1998 where they thrashed the visitors 5-0 City's largest victory and also the highest aggregate score between the two sides was in October 2008, City running out 5-2 winners. In combined League and Cup games, City and Wolves have faced each other 25 times home and away. At Carrow Road City 9 Wins, Wolves 8 wins, Draws 7 At The Molineux Wolves 18 wins, City 1 win, Draws 6 Highest Norwich City Score Norwich City 5 Wolverhampton Wanderers 2 Highest Wolverhampton Wanderers Score Wolverhampton Wanderers 5 Norwich City 0 Highest Aggregate Norwich City 5 Wolverhampton Wanderers 2 Club Connections So what connections are there between the two clubs if any ? Well not too many to speak of but notable players to have turned out for both sides are Seb Bassong, Andrew Surman, Iwan Roberts, and Hugh Curran. Current City winger Elliot Bennett also turned out in 'old gold' but was restricted to a few Cup games. please log in to view this image Hugh Curran celebrates scoring for the Canaries Former City 'uitilty' player Sammy Chung was assistant to Bill McGarry at The Molineux when they guided Wolves to League Cup victory at Wembley in 1974. Co-incidently the same management team had previously won the old Second Division title with Ipswich Town in 1968 taking the Blues back up to the top flight. please log in to view this image Under McGarry's and Chung's stewardship Wolves celebrate victory at Wembley in 1974 One infamous event happened at The Molineux in December 1998 where a horror tackle from a certain Mr Kevin Muscat quite possibly put an end to Craig Bellamy's career at City, he was transferred to Coventry City not long after for £6M a large fee at the time. please log in to view this image City's Craig Bellamy writhes in agony after being pole-axed by Kevin Muscat Team Line Ups Norwich City please log in to view this image Wolverhampton Wanderers Kuszczak; Iorfa, Batth (c), Stearman, Hause; McDonald, Price, van La Parra, Afobe, Sako; Dicko. Substitutes Flatt, Golbourne, Edwards, Henry, Evans, Ebanks-Landell, Jacobs. Referee: Neil Swarbrick Listen to full match commentary on BBC Radio Norfolk 95.1 & 104.4FM, 855Mhz and DAB Digital Radio with Chris Goreham please log in to view this image and guest match summariser Greg Downs please log in to view this image ................and don't forget to tune into 'Canary Call' post match ! OTBC
Good work KIO and 3 points today is almost essential. Should be achievable, as long as the team concentrates for 90 minutes rather than 60!!!!
Agree - first point of call is the KIO thread - it amalgamates info like no other preview. Proper professional! Thanks again KIO
Great thread KIO, well done Sir! Can I make one very minor suggestion in that the yellow doesn't really work (which is a real p*sser as that is our colour!) but please don't let that distract from a brilliant piece of work.
Chris Goreham @CGoreham 23s23 seconds ago This is the @BBCNorfolk set up at Carrow Rd. Going live with Greg Downs in just a few minutes. #ncfc please log in to view this image
Norwich City FC @NorwichCityFC now3 seconds ago #NCFC team v @OfficialWolves: Ruddy; Whittaker, Martin (c), Bassong, Olsson; Redmond, Tettey, Howson, Johnson; Hooper, Grabban. Norwich City FC @NorwichCityFC 22s23 seconds ago #NCFC subs v @OfficialWolves: Rudd (GK), Cuellar, Jerome, Andreu, Hoolahan, Garrido, Josh Murphy.
