Coppell puts his faith in Barrett at Carrow Road
Brighton's on-loan Arsenal striker Graham Barrett hopes to put the club's league problems to one side and re-discover his goalscoring touch in their rearranged FA Cup third-round tie against Norwich tonight.
The statistics do not favour the visitors to Carrow Road: Brighton are bottom of the First Division, Norwich are fourth, and Barrett has scored once in 14 matches. The Brighton manager, Steve Coppell, added: "I feel Graham has got to contribute more in the box. He does an awful lot of work outside the box [but] his season will be judged on his goals to games ratio, which isn't too good at the moment."
But despite the statistics, Barrett remains confident. "I am sure I'm going to bag a hat-trick soon," he said. "I feel sharp. That's the way it goes with strikers; you go through a patch without scoring and then get loads."
Coppell added he was confident his side can go to Carrow Road, where Norwich have conceded seven goals in 14 games, and perform well, especially because they were the last side to win there with a 1-0 victory on Boxing Day. "We know what to expect, having played them recently. We withstood the pressure from their crowd and won't be fazed."
There are two other all-First Division third-round replays. Burnley host struggling Grimsby, after a 2-2 draw, while Reading and Walsall, who were goalless first time around, meet at the Madejski Stadium. Elsewhere, Millwall host Cambridge after their 1-1 draw, while Conference side Dagenham & Redbridge have the chance to cause an upset with a home replay against Second Division Plymouth after a 2-2 draw.
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