please log in to view this image Round 33 please log in to view this image Burton Albion 2 - 1 Norwich City FT HT 1 - 0Attendance: 5,263 Date: Saturday 18th February 2017 Venue: Pirelli Stadium Kick-Off: 03:00PM Referee: Lee Probert Assistant Referees: Eddie Smart & Adrian Holmes Fourth Official: Neil Swarbrick please log in to view this image KIO's not606 Match Preview Tomorrow Alex Neil’s Norwich City side travel to Burton to take on Nigel Clough’s Burton Albion at the Pirelli Stadium. The Canaries look to have turned a corner after a dreadful run of results towards the end of 2016 and have recently put in much more encouraging performances and results. They go into tomorrow’s game undefeated in their last six league games, winning 4 and drawing 2 and will be considered firm favourites to beat the Brewers. It has to be said that City have been prolific in front of goal but still have a tendency to concede goals so it seems likely that both teams will find the net here. Last time out the Canaries were close to beating League Leaders Newcastle United at Carrow Road but succumbed to a late strike by Jamaal Lascelles which gave the visitors a share of the spoils. In truth it was no more than Newcastle deserved as City were under intense pressure for most of the second period. please log in to view this image Cameron Jerome taps the ball home to put City 2-1 in front against the Magpies Burton continue to hover above the relegation trap door but are picking up just enough wins to keep their heads above water. In their last match up they were given a footballing lesson by Chris Hughton’s Brighton & Hove Albion going down 4-1 on the South Coast to the Seagulls. Although they have lost 9 of their last 12 league games the Brewers have had a couple of decent results recently with wins at Queens Park Rangers and at home against Wolverhampton Wanderers. These results alone should give Nigel Clough’s side belief that they can survive their first ever season in English football’s second tier. Just like Norwich Burton have an inability to keep clean sheets and have in fact conceded at least once in all of their last 15 league games. It is therefore likely that the free-scoring Canaries will find the net at least once against their hosts. please log in to view this image Cauley Woodrow could return for the Brewers In team news Alex Neil has confirmed that striker Nelson Oliveira is out for 4-6 weeks with a fractured foot and he joins Matt Jarvis, Steven Naismith, Graham Dorrans and Louis Thompson on the long term injury list. Ivo Pinto (foot) and Youssouf Mulumbu (thigh) are both targeting a return to action against Ipswich Town in next Sunday’s East Anglian Derby. However James Maddison has been back training and Neil has confirmed he will be in the match day squad tomorrow. For the Brewers, Lloyd Dyer and Cauley Woodrow could both return after calf problems with Chris O’Grady on loan from Brighton available for selection once again after having to miss out last Saturday against his parent club. Defenders John Brayford (knee), Kyle McFadzean (toe) and Damien McCrory (hamstring) are definitely ruled out. Nigel Clough’s Match Preview please log in to view this image Nigel Clough still thinks Norwich have a Premier League squad “They [Norwich] are on a charge. They were beating Newcastle for a large part of that game, It shows the faith that Norwich have put in him [Alex Neil] is great. These clubs who change managers at a drop of a hat I don’t think it benefits them the majority of the time. He got them promoted before, they nearly stayed in the Premier League last season. Why not stick with him? He is a good manager.” “Norwich have just scored seven goals in two games and you look at some of their forward players and it is quite scary in this league. They had a Premier League squad last season but we will enjoy competing against them. We will have a go at them and we fancy playing anyone at the Pirelli. It will be a different experience for them from playing in front of 25,000 at Carrow Road so we are looking forward to it. The nature of the Championship means you can always cause an upset.” “Results went for us during the week, more or less, and it is getting very tight down there now, something like five or six points separates the clubs from the middle down in the table. We had a clear week, especially after going down to Brighton missing six players.” “We have three games coming up now. We can’t pick and choose but with Norwich at home and Derby away the Blackburn game after those two is the most important simply because they are a team around us.” Alex Neil’s Match Preview City Boss Alex Neil Previews tomorrow's game "It will be a difficult one. They're a team [Burton] that's going to be scrapping for every point they can get.” "They have a squad which works incredibly hard and they make it difficult for you. They managed to beat Wolves there recently.” "They create that siege mentality, which you can do at the smaller grounds. Their fans get right behind them and based on the budget they've got, they've done extremely well.” “We're going to have to do the physical side of the game well and hopefully our quality can come through." "We can't give up any opportunities to close the gap between us and the team above us," he added. "If they win, we need to win and if they lose, we need to win because we need to close it.” "We need to win every game and this game is massive for us." "The injury list isn't looking any better, which is disappointing. If anything it might be added to. We've got another couple that might be struggling but we just need to crack on with it." "He [Ivo Pinto] looks as if he's going to struggle. Steven Naismith is still out and Youssouf Mulumbu is still struggling." On Nelson Oliveira: "It's going to be about four to six weeks, depending on the severity of it." On James Madison: "James is back training and is in the squad, which is pleasing. We need him in the squad because we're running out of numbers." Current Form (Last 6 Competitive Fixtures – Most Recent First) Burton Albion LWLWLL BURTON HOME Burton have won 35%, drawn 30% and lost 35% of their last 20 home games. In their last 20 home games against teams positioned in the top half of the table, Burton have won 8, drawn 5 and lost 7 of these matches. In their last 20 home games against teams positioned below them in the table, Burton have won 12, drawn 6 and lost 2 of these matches. Norwich City DWDWWW NORWICH AWAY Norwich have won 25%, drawn 20% and lost 55% of their last 20 away games. In their last 20 away games against teams positioned in the top half of the table, Norwich have won 4, drawn 3 and lost 13 of these matches. In their last 20 away games against teams positioned above them in the table, Norwich have won 3, drawn 2 and lost 15 of these matches. TEAM STATISTICS www.kickoff.co.uk Match History Tomorrow’s meeting will be only the second between these two sides, the first being this season’s EFL Championship reverse fixture at Carrow Road on 24th September 2016. The game finished 3-1 to the Canaries, Martin Olsson, Jacob Murphy and Ivo Pinto scoring for City with Lucas Akins replying for the Brewers. The match was also notable for the sending off of Burton substitute defender Tom Flanagan on 76 minutes for a second yellow card. His second caution which led to his dismissal was for handball in the penalty area, City’s Robbie Brady subsequently having his spot kick saved by Albion ‘keeper Jon McLaughlin. Highest Burton Albion Score N/A Highest Norwich City Score Norwich City 3 Burton Albion 1 Highest Aggregate (4) Norwich City 3 Burton Albion 1 Club Connections Those to have played for both sides: please log in to view this image City 'keeper Remi Matthews had a spell on loan at the Pirelli Stadium Lee Camp (Burton loan), Marc Edworthy, Remi Matthews (Burton loan), Nathan Redmond (Burton loan), Mark Robins and Simon Whaley. please log in to view this image Mark Robins a prolific marksman while at City turned out for the Brewers towards the end of his playing career Former City loanee Paul Peschisolido also managed the Brewers. Ex Canaries defender / midfielder Michael Spillane had an unsuccessful trial with Burton in 2013 Did You Know? Burton Albion were formed as recently as 1950 joining the Birmingham & District League. Burton take their nickname ‘The Brewers’ from the town’s brewing heritage which dates back hundreds of years. The Pirelli Stadium on Princess Way was built in 2005 and is the current home of the Brewers, replacing Eton Park which was also on the same road. The ground cost £7.2 million to build and was built on the former site of the Pirelli UK Tyres Ltd Sports & Social Club. The land was donated to the club by Pirelli in return for naming rights. It is by far the smallest stadium in the Championship with a capacity of just 6,912. TEAM LINE UPS: please log in to view this image please log in to view this image Listen to full match commentary on BBC Radio Norfolk 95.1 / 104.4FM, 855kHz AM & DAB Digital Radio With Chris Goreham please log in to view this image and guest Match Summariser Mark Robins please log in to view this image and don’t forget to tune in to #CanaryCall post match with Mark and Rob Butler please log in to view this image OTBC
Impressive as usual KIO and I'd LOVE to see JM get say 15-20 minutes to see what he can do. Let's also hope Whittaker can put in a similar performance to the one he had against the Magpies!!!
Done KIO and I'm quietly confident of a narrow victory - an emphatic one would be even better to give us more leeway over the teams above us!!
More likely next week with the https://nwaf.org.uk/ being held in Norwich for the nex 3 years. Some great beers will be on offer!!!
If we don't win we could be 8 points adrift so I would consider this a must win to keep up with the front runners. Great thread KIO
Well all bar one of us has gone for a City win tomorrow and surprisingly it's not RBF, well he hasn't voted yet so there's still time
Great Match Thread KIO, you've excelled yourself again! I've gone for a win (1-2). The bookies have us as clear favourites, but we'll have to work to make it happen. Burton will fight for everything, so we'll need to scrap as well to make it happen.
Just tried to vote (City win) only to be told that I do not have permission to view that page or perform that action. WTF?
I had us down for a 3-1 win, but have revised to 2-1 due to injuries. We will need to fight extremely hard for this one. OTBC
Due to all our injuries and it being away, I thought I was being optimistic plumping for a draw! Bah!