CANARY manager Bryan Gunn has told canaries.co.uk this evening's game against Cardiff City presents an opportunity for the City squad to make up for their loss away to Blackpool at the weekend.

After they lost 2-0 at Bloomfield Road, Gunn said tonight's game was a chance to put things right as the Canaries get set to take on Dave Jones' side.

"For me, this is a massive game. We need to make sure we've got players on the park who can cause problems for Cardiff City, who are also a very good team. They're on a good run at the moment, if you look at their away record I think they've drawn ten, won three and lost four. They've caused problems for other teams away from home so I'm sure they're going to come here and try to cause problems for us.

"It's a massive match for Norwich City to make up for the disappointment of Saturday - we could have clawed our way back up to a more battling position than we're in at the moment and we need to make up for that."

He continued: "David Jones has been around this league for many a year with different clubs and he's using his experience. The home form and the away form are crucial if you want to be up there challenging, they've still got an opportunity to be up there in the automatic slots.

"They'll probably look at Norwich in our present position and be coming with confidence, but at the same time we need to make sure everybody knows the importance of the game in our playing squad, backroom staff and supporters. This game could be crucial to the remainder of our season and our future."

Gunn's right-hand man Ian Butterworth joined Cardiff as assistant manager in October 2000. Gunn told reporters having an ex-Bluebird insider on board had helped him in his preparations for the battle: "He knows a lot of the players in their squad and John Deehan's been to their last two games, he saw them at Southampton and he was at the game against Doncaster on Saturday so we've got details on them.

"I believe they have some injury problems so we won't know until the teamsheet comes out what Cardiff City team will be out there - it doesn't matter what team they put out, we need to make sure our team are really focussed on the game and know the importance of it. Tuesday night's game is massive, I think that tells you the story."

With the Canary faithful anxious to witness a much-desired home win, questions were put to Gunn by media as to how the Canaries were coping with the pressure they currently find themselves under: "We've got to cope with the pressure and realise how important this game is," he commented. "I'll do as much as I can to get the players prepared mentally; physicality doesn't come in to it now because the players have played three-quarters of the season. We're down to the nitty gritty so we need to make sure everyone's focussed on the job.

"The spark went at the weekend, the beginning of the game wasn't good, the first ten minutes were where we lost it. We let Blackpool get at least ten crosses into our penalty box unopposed and that's not good enough, whereas we saw against QPR people were blocking shots, closing people down. We lost that, and that spark needs to start right from the first minute when the first cross comes in."

Reading striker David Mooney made his debut for City during the second half of the weekend's defeat to the Seasiders. On the loanee, Gunn commented: "David had 30 minutes against Blackpool the other night, and he showed the right appetite to warrant inclusion in the 16 again. We'll make those decisions over the course of today and tomorrow, but he certainly didn't do himself any harm."