WEST BROM V CITY PREVIEW
Posted on: Sat 28 Jan 2012
West Bromwich Albion v Norwich City
FA Cup with Budweiser Fourth Round
Saturday, January 28, 2012
The Hawthorns
Kick off 3PM
PAUL Lambert's Norwich City travel to the Hawthorns for the second time in two weeks as the Canaries aim to progress to the Fifth Round of the FA Cup with Budweiser.
City have enjoyed a sensational start to 2012, winning three and drawing one of their four games. The last time out against Chelsea, Lambert's men secured an impressive 0-0 draw at Carrow Road, which was their first clean sheet of the season.
West Brom come into the game on the back of a superb 2-1 stoppage time victory away at the Britannia Stadium against Stoke City last weekend, in which Graham Dorrans' late strike secured all three points for Roy Hodgson's men.
Both sides met in the league on January 14, with Norwich City coming away as winners thanks to a 2-1 victory. Andrew Surman and Steve Morison scored either side of a Shane Long penalty, and will be eager to continue that form in the FA Cup today.
City Team News
Paul Lambert has been boosted by the midweek returns of Marc Tierney, James Vaughan, and Elliott Ward during the reserve clash with Chelsea on Tuesday night. All three will be in contention for City, who are still without Declan Rudd, who had an operation on a foot injury and will be missing for a couple of months. Defender Kyle Naughton is ineligible due to the terms of his loan deal from Tottenham Hotspur.
West Brom Team News
Roy Hodgson's new signing Scott Allen is in contention for a place in the squad, but is unlikley to start against City. Paul scharner (Achillies), Chris Brunt (ankle), Steven Reid (knee), and Zoltan Gera (knee) are all likely to be missing for the Baggies, whilst Billy Jones struggles to recover from a hamstring injury.
Fans can listen to live commentary of the game on Canaries Player, and chat to members of the Media Team with our 'On The Ball' updates on Canaries.co.uk from 2.30pm.
The #YellowArmy can also interact and keep up to date with all the action on our social media platforms by following @NorwichCityFC on Twitterand 'liking' us on Facebook, where you'll be first to hear the Norwich City line-ups before the match.
A match report with post-match reaction from City manager Paul Lambert will appear shortly after the final whistle, followed by further manager and player interviews available exclusively to Canaries Player subscribers.
Extended and 60-second match highlights will also be available on Canaries Player 24 hours after the match.
Stoke City v West Bromwich Albion (4-4-2)
Ben Foster,
Jonas Olsson,
Nicky Shorey,
Gareth McAuley,
Gabriel Tamas,
James Morrison,
Jerome Thomas,
Graham Dorrans,
Yousef Mulumbu,
Simon Cox,
Marc Antoine-Fortune
Norwich City v Chelsea (4-4-2)
John Ruddy,
Russell Martin,
Zak Whitbread,
Kyle Naughton,
Daniel Ayala,
Bradley Johnson,
Andrew Surman,
Anthony Pilkington,
David Fox,
Steve Morison,
Grant Holt (c)
City: Steve Morison (8 league goals)
Morison has taken to the Premier League in fine style, and scored his eighth league goal of the season in the crucial 2-1 win away at the Hawthorns against West Brom on January 14. He also netted the winner on January 2 against Queens Park Rangers, as well as netting against Burnley in the FA Cup Third Round.
West Brom: Shane Long (6 league goals)
Republic of Ireland international Shane Long has netted six league goals for Albion this campaign, since his move from Reading in the summer - for a reported £6.5M fee.
He came off the bench to score a penalty in the league clash with Norwich two weeks ago, although it only proved to be a consolation in the end.
The 24-year-old began his career at Cork City before making his name with Reading in both the Championship and Barclays Premier League.
Long is a well-rounded player who is outstanding at a number of aspects of his game, something Norwich fans will remember after his brace at Carrow Road for Reading in a 2-0 defeat of the Canaries in April 2009.
City: John Ruddy (21 league apps)
The only games City 'keeper Ruddy has missed this season were the 1-0 league defeat at home to West Bromwich Albion due to suspension and the FA Cup Third Round win over Burnley.
Ruddy also shone in the league clash with West Brom, most memorably tipping Peter Odemwingie's early effort onto the crossbar and finally secured a first clean sheet of the season against Chelsea last weekend.
West Brom: Ben Foster (22 league apps)
After suffering the agony of relegation and the ecstasy of a Carling cup win with Birmingham City last season, England international Ben Foster was loaned to West Bromwich Albion at the start of the 2011-12 season, and is the only ever-present in the current squad.
The former Manchester United goalkeeper has had a number of loan spells during his career, before a £6M move to Birmingham City in May 2010, and is widely regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the Barlcays Premier League.
His saves have helped steer Roy Hodgson's side into 15th position and a healthy seven points above the drop zone as it stands, and the Canaries will certainly need to be at their most clinical if they are to beat the 28-year-old on Saturday.
Simon Cox
With West Brom having to contend with a number of injuries to the first-team squad, Cox's hat-trick against Cardiff in the FA Cup Third Round came as a welcome boost for Roy Hodgson.
Cox, who is an international team-mate of Shane Long for the Republic of Ireland, has yet to score in the Premier League this campaign, but his return to form in the FA Cup will be a warning sign that the talented former Swindon Town striker will be one-to-watch on Saturday.
The 24-year-old made his name with the Robins before earning himself a £1.5M move to The Baggies in 2009, and has netted 18 goals since then.
Roy Hodgson
One of the most respected managers in the game today, Roy Hodgson arrived at Albion in February 2011 and guided the West Midlands side from 17th to 11th in the Barclays Premier League table. In a managerial career spanning over 35 years, Hodgson has managed the likes of Inter Milan, Grasshoppers, Malmo FF, Switzerland, Finland, Blackburn, Liverpool, and Fulham, where he won the LMA Manager of the Year Award in 2009 after taking the Cottagers all the way to the Europa League Final.
West Brom have the edge on City in terms of all-time and recent results between the two sides. Prior to their January 14 victory, the last time City managed a win away at West Brom was back in November 2006, when a Robert Earnshaw goal was enough to secure three Championship points away at The Hawthorns.
Prior to that City did achieve a famous 3-2 win at Carrow Road in the 2004-05 season, thanks to an 85th minute screamer from Damien Francis when the scores were tied at 2-2.
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West Brom Wins |
Draws |
Norwich City Wins |
|
League |
19 |
13 |
14 |
|
FA Cup |
3 |
0 |
0 |
|
League Cup |
0 |
2 |
2 |
|
Total |
22 |
15 |
16 |
|
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i.e. for the UK enter +44 and then your mobile number without the first 0
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