Fast improving Norwich next

Three successive wins have lifted them into the top half of the table, just, for only the second time this season. The fans were targeting manager Nigel Worthington not too long ago but the recent results have quietened that and once again they will be filling Carrow Road for the visit of the Clarets.

Worthington set about rebuilding the squad after relegation and made what looked to be some astute signings during the summer. Jason Jarrett was the first to join the club from Wigan and he was quickly followed by Matthieu Louis-Jean from Forest and a striker who always loved to score against Burnley, Peter Thorne, who moved from Cardiff.

There were more pre-season signings with the captures of Jurgen Colin, a defender from PSV Eindhoven and Andy Hughes from Reading as well as the loan signing of Dean Marney from Spurs.

Injury has robbed them on Marney since October, but Worthington has been able to add further to his squad since the start of the season via the loan market. Another to arrive from White Hart Lane was Calum Davenport and then in a quick rush in November they brought in Dickson Etuhu, David Wright and Carl Robinson from Preston, Wigan and Sunderland respectively.

That’s all left them with a decent sized squad and that has certainly been reflected in the recent improvement in results that has seen them start to climb the table. Striker Dean Ashton has been the subject of much speculation recently and it could well be that he will leave Carrow Road next month, just one year after signing from Crewe. But he’s certainly been back in the goals recently and a hat trick in the last match before Christmas followed by another on Boxing Day has taken him to ten for the season.

Incredibly five of their last six games have been away and they have played only three home games since the end of October, all of which have been won, and that will mean a tough game for the Clarets as we look to improve our own away form.

Click HERE to see all Norwich’s results this season.

Nigel Worthington was hoping to include both Jim Brennan and Dickson Etuhu today, both missed the game on Saturday due to illness. Brennan looks to be ruled out although the Preston man could well feature.

He will be added to the squad from Saturday but it could well be the starting line up will be the same one that won at Sheffield United and that was:

Robert Green, Jurgen Colin, Craig Fleming, Gary Doherty, Adam Drury, Paul McVeigh, Youssef Safri, Carl Robinson, Simon Charlton, Darren Huckerby, Dean Ashton. Subs from: Darren Ward, Leon McKenzie, Peter Thorne, Ian Henderson, Rossi Jarvis, Dickson Etuhu.

Click HERE to see the full Norwich squad.

Burnley have no injury worries and will go into the game with the same squad as Saturday with Duane Courtney, Kyle Laffery and Chris McCann on standby. There won’t be too many changes, if any, but I expect John Spicer to come in for Gifton Noel-Williams.

We could line up: Brian Jensen, Michael Duff, Frank Sinclair, John McGreal, Jon Harley, Wade Elliott, John Spicer, Micah Hyde, James O’Connor, Graham Branch, Ade Akinbiyi. Subs: Lee Grant, Wayne Thomas, Garreth O’Connor, Danny Karbassiyoon, Gifton Noel-Williams.

It ended 2-0 to Norwich and brought a run of three successive wins to an end. Goals from loan player Peter Crouch and Iwan Roberts was enough to see off a Burnley side and the fans who were incredibly sat in two rows on the touchline.

The teams were,

Norwich: Robert Green, Marc Edworthy, Malky Mackay, Adam Drury, Kevin Harper (Alex Notman 70), Damien Francis, Gary Holt, Clint Easton (Paul McVeigh 62), Darren Huckerby, Peter Crouch (Iwan Roberts 70). Subs not used: Paul Crichton, Phil Mulryne.

Burnley: Brian Jensen, Dean West (Lee Roche 45), Andy Todd, David May, Mo Camara, Luke Chadwick, Tony Grant, Gareth Farrelly, Graham Branch (Ian Moore 64), Robbie Blake, Delroy Facey. Subs not used: Paul Weller, Alan Moore, Richard Chaplow.

Previous 20 Seasons
Season	Div	Ven	Result	Att	Scorers
1987/88	LC	h	1-1	7,912	Oghani
.	.	a	0-1	6,168	.
2000/01	1	h	2-0	15,017	Payton Davis
.	.	a	3-2	17,507	Ball Taylor Moore
2001/02	1	a	1-2	19,849	Armstrong
.	.	h	1-1	14,679	Taylor
2002/03	1	h	2-0	16,282	McGregor Little
.	.	a	0-2	20,026	.
2003/04	1	a	0-2	16,407	.
.	.	h	3-5	12,417	Wood May Blake

Click HERE to see more results against Norwich since we first met in 1934 when the Clarets won 3-2 in Norwich.