Norwich City v Preston North End
Coca-Cola Championship
Saturday 2nd February 2008
Kick-off 3pm
This time last week, even the most optimistic of PNE fans would probably have struggled to predict that we'd demolish Premier League side Derby County in such outstanding fashion before going on to record a battling success over Championship leaders West Brom despite two late dismissals.
It means that there's a sizeable feel-good factor around Deepdale, and the mood has improved even more after bringing in Neal Trotman and Michael Hart in midweek before the transfer window was shut, bolted, and covered over with newspaper to stop passers-by from looking within.
A trip to Carrow Road would normally be the kind of away day that most people look at with an element of trepidation, but the mood is very much a case of 'bring it on', as North End look to take on all comers, whether they're Norwich, Nigeria or Northwich Victoria.
Preston will be without the suspended trio of Chris Brown - who misses out on the chance to face his former club - Youl Mawene, and Chris Sedgwick, though new signing Neal Trotman comes into contention and Billy Jones will be hoping to push for a place after completing 60 minutes for the reserves in their midweek win at Blackpool.
Norwich currently have seven players in on loan, but can only select five of them in their matchday 16 under Football League rules. Ryan Bertrand, Mo Camara and Ched Evans all played in midweek as Southampton were defeated so will be expected to continue, but they're now joined in first team contention by this week's recruits Matthew Bates, Keiran Gibbs, Alex Pearce and James Henry. Captain Mark Fotheringham limped off during Tuesday night's win, but he should win the race to be fit for the weekend.
Last Time Out
PNE 2 West Brom 1
Lonergan, St Ledger, Chilvers, Mawene, Davidson, Sedgwick (Chaplow 87), McKenna, Carter, Whaley, Brown, Hawley (Hill 87)
Southampton 0 Norwich 1
Marshall, Otsemobor, Shackell, Doherty, Camara (Huckerby 73), Croft, Fotheringham (Pattison 23), Russell, Bertrand, Dublin, Evans (Cureton 63)
The League Table
Though Tuesday's win over West Brom wasn't enough to claw our way out of the bottom three, an escape route is now in our sides with three sides capable of being caught this weekend.
QPR, Coventry and Sheffield Wednesday will all be looking over their shoulders as PNE look to boost their record of 30 points from 29 games. Manager Alan Irvine set a safety target of around 53/54 points, meaning we should be looking to try and win eight of the remaining 17 games, with a couple of draws along the way hopefully helping to make life a little easier.
The Canaries were rooted to the basement for a considerable proportion of the season, but they're on a fine run at present and are one of the division's current form sides. They're currently 16th with 35 points from 29 games, and a Lilywhite victory at Carrow Road would undoubtedly help claw them back into the corridor of uncertainty.
Ones To Watch
Neal Trotman
Will he play or won't he? Either way, the 20-year-old £500,000 recruit from Oldham will be lining up in a Championship squad for the first time this weekend, hoping that his second tier debut will come sooner rather than later.
After 24 games for Oldham and 12 for Halifax in a loan spell this time last year, the Levenshulme-born defender brings raw potential to the Preston back-line, and with Youl Mawene suspended, he could be set to go straight in at centre half. Failing that, Sean St Ledger could be switched into the middle, with Callum Davidson a possible right back candidate alongside Billy Jones, who had an hour-long run out in the reserves on Wednesday night.
If Davidson was to move across, it would open up an opportunity for Matt Hill to slot in at left back.
Jamie Cureton
Potentially lining up opposite Trotman and co is Jamie Cureton, the Canaries' leading scorer so far this season with eight strikes to his name from 62 attempts at goal.
The centre forward has started 23 times, with seven appearances off the bench. The most recent of these came at St Mary's Stadium in midweek, where he replaced goalscorer Ched Evans during the second half of the 1-0 win over Southampton.
The widely-travelled Bristolian has scored goals wherever he's been, including 23 in 44 appearances for Colchester in their successful debut season in the Championship last year.
Head to Head
It's very rare for North End to head into a game at this level with an inferior head-to-head record against their opponents, but this is one of those rare occasions, provided you take League Cup games into account.
North End have won 13 league outings to Norwich's ten, with ten draws, but they have won six games in England's third competition to edge the overall record between the two. The sides have never met in the FA Cup, which is probably a relief for those who don't fancy the long trek to East Anglia or vice versa!
Last Time We Met At Carrow Road
Norwich City 2 Preston North End 0 - Coca-Cola Championship
8th August 2006
St Ledger 56 (og), Earnshaw 82
Attendance: 24,676
Betting
Norwich 10/11, Draw 9/4, PNE 11/4. All odds courtesy of North End's official betting portal pnebetting.co.uk.
Listen Live
Join us on Whites World from 2.30pm where Matt Morris and Robert Urbani will provide all the big match build-up before Jonathan Breeze steps into the press box to provide exclusive full match commentary. Whites World is available now from just £3.99 per month or £19.99 for the remainder of the season, meaning you can follow North End from anywhere on the globe. Don't forget to send your thoughts and opinions on the game to matchday@pne.com.
Kit
North End will turn out in their standard home colours given the lack of a colour clash.
Travel Advice
It's a long way! Check out more information in our Carrow Road Ground Guide.
Any other business?
Deepdale Duck will be making his first away day appearance of the season after being granted permission by the Canaries to make an appearance. They're the first host club to have accepted him this season, so expect his to be on his very best behaviour...
