IT'S third versus fifth in Coca-Cola League One tomorrow at Carrow Road as City play hosts to Lee Clarke's equally free-scoring Huddersfield Town.
Paul Lambert and Clarke's men lead the way in the division in terms of goals scored, racking up 45 goals each in their 21 games played so far.
With Colchester United's home match against Carlisle United postponed tomorrow, a win for City would for the meantime at least open up a gap between the Canaries, the U's in fourth and the Terriers in fifth.
Flourishing in Lambert's midfield diamond this season is playmaker Wes Hoolahan, who has been at the heart of most things good so far this campaign and with 11 goals to his name is City's third highest goalscorer this season - a tally which would have made him top scorer last season.
Hoolahan and top scorer Grant Holt - who has 19 goals - haven't scored any of City's last five goals in the previous two games. Instead Chris Martin, second in the scoring charts with 12 goals and defender Gary Doherty notched the five between. Doherty scored three of them and it's something according to Hoolahan he isn't letting the rest of the squad forget in a hurry:
"He doesn't stop talking about it! Doc's been superb though the last few games, especially at the back but also getting a few goals for us, it's a plus for us."
Doherty volleyed home a first-half equaliser on Tuesday night, a game which ultimately ended in a cruel penalty shoot-out defeat in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy to Southampton - and Hoolahan said that while the lads are gutted to be out of the competition, the excellent performance is something they'll be looking to continue.
"It's still a bit disappointing, I thought we played well in the game and to concede in the last 30 seconds of injury time was a bit of a body blow but we played well so we're going into tomorrow confident."
Watch manager Paul Lambert's pre-match interview, defender Michael Nelson and Wes Hoolahan speak to the media ahead of the game on Canaries Player, which is also where you'll hear live commentary of the game from 2.45pm tomorrow afternoon. Alternatively, follow the match with 'On The Ball' from 2.15pm on canaries.co.uk.
City's run of six straight home league wins breeds confidence in playing at Carrow Road but also brings a personal battle as teams look to man-mark the Irishman.
"We're going into games now with a lot of confidence and the fans at Carrow Road are getting behind us, which is great to see.
"When it is compact and all tight sometimes you get man-marked, but second half when we get a goal it opens up and you have the freedom of the park. You take it as a bit of a compliment but Rusty's (Darel Russell) getting man-marked as well from the deeper areas. But that gives other players more room and more space to attack."
Hoolahan hopes though, with both sides averaging scoring over two goals a game, it'll be an exciting attacking encounter allowing him space to play, unlike in some previous home games.
"They're fifth and we're third at the moment. They play attacking football and hopefully they'll come to Carrow Road and play that type of game. I think the last few weeks teams have come and sat in and gone five in midfield, so hopefully they'll come and want to attack us and then it gives us licence to attack them, so it should be a good game."
Having won promotion from League One with Blackpool, Hoolahan is well-placed to assess City's chances this season:
"I think this is a stronger team than we had at Blackpool but it is a stronger league than we had three years ago. We're going into games confident. We won our last ten games of the season to get us into third and then went through in the play-offs. Hopefully we'll get promoted straight away rather than going through the play-offs."
Tickets are available for tomorrow's game by logging on to online ticketing, by calling 0844 826 1902, or in person at Carrow Road ticket office or the Canary Store in the Mall, Norwich.
