A look ahead to City's clash with Peterborough at London Road
THE FA Cup with Budweiser gets in to full swing for Norwich City on Saturday as they travel to London Road to take on Darren Ferguson’s Peterborough United in the third round.
Chris Hughton’s side are looking to bounce back from a narrow 2-1 defeat to West Ham United on New Year’s day and will take heart from a much improved second half display against the Hammers.
Peterborough meanwhile find themselves just above the Championship relegation zone, but are in fine form having won four of their last five, including a 2-1 success at home to Barnsley last time out.
City fans will be hoping for a repeat of last season’s third round performance, where they beat another Championship opponent, Burnley, 4-1 at Carrow Road, but it will certainly be a difficult task against the Posh.
Kick-off is at 3pm, and you can listen live to the action through Canaries Player, as well as following live updates on Canaries.co.uk, and through our official Twitter (@NorwichCityFC) and Facebook pages.
TEAM NEWS:
CITY: John Ruddy (thigh) is out until March for City, whilst striking pair Steve Morison (thigh) and Grant Holt (hamstring) are thought to be missing. Andrew Surman is back in training but is set to miss out, with Steven Whittaker (hip) also a doubt. Bradley Johnson returns from suspension, but midfielder Jonny Howson (ankle) is a doubt after picking up a knock against West Ham. Declan Rudd will start in goal however, with Elliott Ward, Jacob Butterfield, and Simon Lappin all returning to the squad after loan spells.
PETERBOROUGH: In-form striker Dwight Gayle, on loan from Dagenham and Redbridge, is cup-tied for the fixture, whilst Lee Tomlin is suspended. Defender Gabriel Zakuani will miss the game due to African Cup of Nations duty with Congo DR, whilst Kgosi Ntlhe and Peter Grant are also out.
LAST LINE UPS:
West Ham v CITY
Mark BUNN,
Russ MARTIN (c),
Sebastien BASSONG,
Michael TURNER,
Ryan BENNETT,
Jonny HOWSON,
Anthony PILKINGTON,
Alex TETTEY,
Robert SNODGRASS,
Wes HOOLAHAN,
Harry KANE.
PETERBOROUGH v Barnsley
Bobby OLEJNIK,
Shaun BRISLEY,
Gabriel ZAKUANI,
Mark LITTLE,
Michael BOSTWICK,
George BOYD,
Tommy ROWE,
Joe NEWELL,
Kane FERDINAND,
Lee TOMLIN,
Dwight GAYLE.
MANAGER: DARREN FERGUSON
The 40-year-old former Manchester United and Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder is currently in his second spell in charge of Peterborough United, having led them to back-to-back promotions from League Two to the Championship in the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons. He then had a spell as manager of Preston North End before a return to London Road, where he won promotion back to the Championship in his first season back in charge. After guiding the team to safety in the Championship last term, the son of Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson now faces another battle to keep his side in the league this season, an achievement they are currently on target for.
GEORGE BOYDONE-TO-WATCH:
The 27-year-old winger will undoubtedly be one of the key men for Darren Ferguson’s side on Saturday, having already netted five times from midfield this season. The former Stevenage Borough man has an impressive 291 appearances and 74 goals to his name since joining Posh in January 2007, and also had a six game loan spell at Nottingham Forest in 2010. City will need to keep a close eye on the winger, who has an eye for the spectacular, as he proved with a stunning 35-yard strike against Huddersfield early in the season.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
| Peterborough wins | Draws | Norwich City wins | |
| League | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| FA Cup | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| League Cup | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 0 | 1 | 1 |
The Canaries and Peterborough have only faced each other twice in competitive football – a two-legged League Cup Second Round tie in 1986. The first-leg at London Road ended 0-0, but City triumphed 1-0 in the return fixture at Carrow Road courtesy of a Wayne Biggins goal.
TOP LEAGUE SCORERS:
CITY: Grant Holt, Robert Snodgrass, Anthony Pilkington – Four league goals
PETERBOROUGH: Dwight Gayle – Five league goals
MOST LEAGUE STARTS:
CITY: Bradley Johnson – 20 league starts
PETERBOROUGH: Bobby Olejnik – 26 league starts
REFEREE: Stuart Attwell
The 30-year-old Attwell will be the man in charge on Saturday, having taken charge of Peterborough’s 3-1 win over Huddersfield in October 2012. The Nuneaton-based official took charge of City’s opening fixture of the 2011-12 season, a 1-1 draw with Wigan, as well as the 2-0 defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford. Attwell has sent off two players and booked 73 so far this campaign.