NORWICH CITY v STOKE CITY
Barclays Premier League
15.00 kick-off
Carrow Road
Saturday, March 8, 2014

CHRIS Hughton confirmed that no problems arose from the midweek round of international friendlies when he spoke to the press ahead of Saturday’s match against Stoke City.

Six Canaries first-team players featured for their countries but all will be ready for the weekend’s game, which kicks off the final ten of the campaign.

Five of those matches will be at home for Hughton’s side, and they will be looking for three points when Mark Hughes’ Potters visit as the race for Premier League survival heats up.

Stoke have won only once on the road in the league this season, but are on the back of a morale-boosting triumph over Arsenal at the Britannia Stadium, where former Ipswich Town striker Jonathan Walters scored the game’s only goal from the penalty spot.

The last four meetings between the two sides have finished 1-0, with two wins apiece, but it’s the Staffordshire outfit who lead the overall head-to-head record with 19 victories.

MOST RECENT COMPETITIVE MEETINGS…
Stoke City 0-1 NORWICH CITY 29/09/2013 – Premier League
Stoke City 1-0 NORWICH CITY 27/04/2013 – Premier League
NORWICH CITY 1-0 Stoke City 03/11/2012 – Premier League
Stoke City 1-0 NORWICH CITY 03/03/2012 – Premier League
NORWICH CITY 1-1 Stoke City 21/08/2011 – Premier League

LAST TIME AROUND… Stoke City 0-1 Norwich City, September 29 2013 – Premier League…
The Canaries notched their second win of the Premier League campaign with an excellent victory at the Britannia Stadium back in September.

Jonny Howson secured all three points with his strike from distance in the first half as Chris Hughton’s side pushed themselves above the Potters into 14th place in the table.

Ryan Bennett had a header bounce off the crossbar and Robert Snodgrass was denied by Asmir Begovic as City earned a deserved triumph against their lacklustre opponents.

“This is a tough place to come. We had really good spells were we dominated possession,” said Hughton after the final whistle.

"We coped with their threat, we had a bad result last week and we knew it was important to start well. We played with a high tempo and the players deserve everything.

"It's about picking up points and hopefully this will give us some confidence."

CANARIES’ FORM…
L – 1-4 v Aston Villa (A) 02/03/2014 – Premier League
W – 1-0 v Tottenham Hotspur (H) 23/02/2014 – Premier League
L – 0-2 v West Ham United (A) 11/02/2014 – Premier League
D – 0-0 v Manchester City (H) 08/02/2014 – Premier League
L – 1-2 v Cardiff City (A) 01/02/2014 – Premier League

POTTERS’ FORM…
W – 1-0 v Arsenal (H) 01/03/2014 – Premier League
L – 0-1 v Manchester City (A) 22/02/2014 – Premier League
D – 1-1 v Swansea City (H) 12/02/2014 – Premier League
D – 2-2 v Southampton (A) 08/02/2014 – Premier League
W – 2-1 v Manchester United (H) 01/02/2014 – Premier League

LAST NORWICH CITY XI (4-2-3-1 v Aston Villa)…
John Ruddy; Russell Martin, Joseph Yobo, Sebastien Bassong (c), Martin Olsson; Alexander Tettey, Bradley Johnson; Robert Snodgrass, Wes Hoolahan, Nathan Redmond; Gary Hooper.

LAST STOKE CITY XI (4-2-3-1 v Arsenal)…
Asmir Begovic; Geoff Cameron, Ryan Shawcross (c), Marc Wilson, Erik Pieters; Steven Nzonzi, Glenn Whelan; Jonathan Walters, Charlie Adam, Marko Arnautovic; Peter Crouch.

REFEREE – Andre Marriner…
West Midlands official Andre Marriner took charge of this fixture last season, when Bradley Johnson’s header was enough for Norwich to beat Stoke and earn all three points.

He hasn’t refereed a Canaries game this season, however, with his most recent game involving the Club being the 1-0 home defeat to Luton Town in the FA Cup Fourth Round last year.

Marriner’s was last in action on February 24, when he oversaw Hull City’s 2-1 win over Brighton & Hove Albion in their FA Cup Fifth Round replay at the KC Stadium.

In his 29 matches this campaign, Marriner has given out 93 yellow cards and ten red cards, including three in one Championship match between Sheffield Wednesday and Barnsley at the beginning of February.

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURES (all games at 15.00 on Saturday unless stated otherwise)…
West Bromwich Albion v Manchester United (12.45)
Cardiff City v Fulham
Crystal Palace v Southampton
NORWICH CITY v STOKE CITY
Chelsea v Tottenham Hotspur

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