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Round-up: Norwich eye second after rivals falter

Giles Lucas
Monday 14 March 2011 01:00 GMT
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Norwich City will seek to capitalise on weekend slip-ups by their fellow promotion hopefuls when they entertain Bristol City at Carrow Road this evening.

Although leaders Queen's Park Rangers extended their advantage at the top to 10 points with a 2-1 win over Crystal Palace on Saturday, Swansea and Burnley both lost, while play-off place occupants Leeds, Nottingham Forest and Cardiff were held to draws.

Those results mean Norwich can move into the automatic promotion places with victory tonight, but manager Paul Lambert admits he has some injury concerns. Defender Zak Whitbread and striker Aaron Wilbraham are suffering with back problems. "They are both a bit sore," Lambert said. "We need to see how they are but hopefully they'll be OK."

The Bristol City manager, Keith Millen, meanwhile, hopes that on-loan Tottenham defender Steven Caulker recovers from a hip problem, while fellow defender Liam Fontaine will have his ankle checked. "We won't let this season fade away now," said Millen, whose side have won their last four matches. "We've scored 16 goals in our last seven games now and confidence is high in the camp."

The Burnley manager, Eddie Howe, believes hard work will be the only way his side can bounce back from a 3-0 home defeat to Millwall, for whom Paul Robinson scored twice. "Their game plan worked well and we lacked our spark – we gave the ball away too often," reflected Howe. "We conceded in our best spell and it's a real disappointment to concede from a set play. It's back to the training ground."

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