League Two Form Guide

		P	GD	Pts
1	Port Vale	6	+6	16
2	MK Dons	6	+8	13
3	Doncaster	6	+5	13
4	Walsall	6	+5	11
5	Bradford	6	+4	11
6	Crewe	6	+4	11
7	Notts County	6	+3	11
8	Salford	6	+2	11
9	Chesterfield	6	+6	10
10	Cheltenham	6	+1	10
11	Accrington Stanley	6	+1	10
12	Grimsby	6	-5	9
13	AFC Wimbledon	6	+4	7
14	Bromley	6	0	7
15	Newport County	6	-2	7
16	Fleetwood Town	6	+1	6
17	Swindon	6	-1	6
18	Barrow	6	-2	5
19	Tranmere	6	-4	5
20	Harrogate Town	6	-5	5
21	Morecambe	6	-8	4
22	Colchester	6	-6	3
23	Carlisle	6	-9	2
24	Gillingham	6	-7	1

Full Form Table
Prem|Champ|L1|NL|VN|VS
SPL|SC|S1|S2

Question of the Week

Is football a business or a sport?

Norwich Preview

By: Richard Hubbert
Date: 28/12/2002

THE Mariners gave their fans the perfect Christmas present on Thursday with that fantastic 3-1 win at Derby. That made it two wins in a row for Paul Grovesâ€™ men. Can they make it three against a Norwich side who have lost their last 5 away games?

Home > 2002-2003 Season > Previews > Norwich (h)

The Bottom Line

With Brighton, Bradford and Sheffield Wednesday all winning on Boxing Day, Town need to keep up the pace, therefore another win would be fantastic and possibly take us above Bradford before the New Yearâ€™s Day game with them on Wednesday.

The Opposition - Any Good?

The high-flying Canaries have continued the good form they showed at the end of last season in the first half of this. Currently, they lie in fifth place in the table. They have an array of both youth and experience. Providing the experiencing is the likes of former Oldham defender Craig Fleming who is a rock at the heart of the Anglia teamâ€™s defence. Up front of course is the well travelled Iwan Roberts who is joined by the up and coming Paul McVeigh who has bagged eleven goals this season and ex-Mariners striker David Nielsen (left).

Recent Form

Town

Norwich

W	Derby	(a)	3-1
W	Sheff Wed	(h)	2-0
L	Preston	(a)	0-3
L	Walsall	(a)	1-3
L	Leicester	(h)	1-2

L	Brighton	(h)	0-1
W	Walsall	(h)	2-1
L	Palace	(a)	0-2
L	Wolves	(a)	0-1
W	Derby	(h)	1-0

Players To Watch

Town	Norwich

Darren Mansaram	Paul McVeigh
The livewire 18 year old striker has made his first appearances for the Mariners this season after impressing in the reserves last term. On Thursday he had perhaps his best game for the Mariners when he played up front on his own. A strong player with a sharp turn and pace, on his day he can be a real threat for any first division defender and the Mariners will be looking to him on Saturday for inspiration.	Now a full Northern Ireland international, McVeigh has blossomed under the leadership of Nigel Worthington. He started last season merely as a squad player, but since has become an integral part of the Norwich side and scored 10 goals last season. This season he has bettered that already with 11 goals and is in fine form, making he and his dangerous left foot a problem for many first division sides.

Top Scorers

Town	Norwich
Kabba 6 Pouton 4 Campbell 4 Oster 4	McVeigh 11 Nielsen 6 Roberts 5 Mulryne 5

Team News

Town

Norwich

After making some surprise changes for the game at Derby on Thursday, Paul Groves has said that once again he will change things around.

Certainly out will be Tony Gallimore and John McDermott who are still not fully fit, while Alan Pouton serves a one match ban, and is injured anyway which could mean he misses Wednesdayâ€™s game against Bradford.

This means that Stacy Coldicott, Darren Barnard and Steve Livingstone could all return. The most likely to start is Steve Livingstone who is expected to partner Darren Mansaram in a 4-4-2 formation.

Meanwhile Darren Barnard could be recalled in place of Steve Chettle who might find it hard going to play 2 games in three days, after being out for 3 months before Thursday.

Elsewhere, it is unlikely that Groves will tinker with the team much more, except that one of Gavin, Ward, Cooke or himself will have to be sacrificed in order to accommodate the return of Livingstone.

The Canaries do have doubts over defender Darren Kenton, although it does seem that the young defender will be fit to play his second game in three days.

Still out is Steen Nedergaard who still has a calf injury. Ex Town keeper Paul Crichton has been struggling with injury of late and will probably miss out on a place on the bench.

Therefore, Norwich will remain unchanged from the side that lost to Brighton on Thursday.

Probable Starting XI's

Town

Norwich

Danny Coyne

Jason Gavin

Simon Ford

George Santos

Darren Barnard

Stuart Campbell

Iain Ward

Paul Groves

John Oster

Darren Mansaram

Steve Livingstone

Robert Green

Darren Kenton

Malky Mackay

Craig Fleming

Adam Drury

Mark Rivers

Phil Mulryne

Gary Holt

Clint Easton

Iwan Roberts

Paul McVeigh

Subs

Town

Norwich

David Soames

Terry Cooke

Stacy Coldicott

Steve Chettle

Sean Allaway (GK)

David Nielsen

Zema Abbey

Darel Russell

Ian Henderson

Adam Lee-Barrett (GK)

Last Time Out

It was, of course the opening day of the season when the two sides last met each other. It was a game to forget for the Mariners who went down to a 4-0 loss. The Norwich goals came from Paul McVeigh and Phillip Mulryne who bagged a brace each.

Town Team: Coyne, McDermott, Gallimore, Groves, Chettle (Ford), Coldicott, Pouton, Campbell (Barnard), Cooke, Livingstone, Robinson (Rowan).
Subs (not used): Raven and Hughes.

Attendance: 19,869 Report

Norwich Head-to-Head (94th on The Opposition Ladder).

Prediction

Fishy prediction: 2-1 to Town.

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