Norwich City Vs Preston North End
Coca-Cola Championship Saturday 8th November 2008
Alan Irvine described the week previous as being a season defining one, meaning that the results against Watford and Southampton could determine how the rest of the season pans out for North End. With one win and one defeat, Preston have certainly mirrored the sort of form that has blighted their season so far - inconsistent but hopefully, for Preston fans, it will not be a sign of things to come.
Saturday's host's Norwich have also demonstrated somewhat indifferent form this season having emphatically beaten Wolves 5-2 in at home on October after being without a win throughout the month of August. With that in mind it is anyone's guess as to how the game will pan out but one person who will be eager to make an impact is Chris Brown.
Things didn't quite work out for the former Sunderland man and will be determined to show the Carrow Road faithful just exactly what he is capable of. A good performance from him could see Alan Irvine's 50th game in charge be a successful one and consequently stop another run of defeats in its tracks.
Previous Meetings
When Preston faced Norwich at Carrow Road last season, Brown was injured and therefore unavailable for the match meaning that Saturday will be his first trip back to his old club since his move to Lancashire. North End were the victims of a late goal to win the game for Norwich back in February just when it looked as though they had earned a valuable point away from home. Daryl Russell broke Preston hearts in the 91st minute by hitting a left footed shot past Andrew Lonergan.
It would seem that the Lilywhites have not had much luck at Carrow Road in recent years; the aforementioned defeat last season came after a disappointing 2-0 defeat the year before. Sean St Ledger scored in the wrong end that night to put the home side ahead before Rob Earnshaw sealed the points on 82 minutes.
The last time Preston got a result at Carrow Road was back in the 2005/2006 season when they comfortably beat the Canaries in a 3-0 win. Adam Nowland, a penalty from Graham Alexander and David Nugent completed the scoring in a game that was marred by that horrendous challenge on Nowland from Dickson Etuhu who was of course on-loan from Preston at the time.
Head to Head
This week's head to head singles out two loaned players, namely Wayne Brown and Leroy Lita. Lita has proved to be a handful where ever he has played - many Preston supporters will remember his impressive display for Reading at Deepdale in the 2005/2006 season for example. His loan spell at Norwich has been no different with the former England under-21 international netting four goals during his six game stay at Carrow Road.
It will be Wayne Brown's job to shackle the pacey striker on Saturday and should turn out to be an interesting battle between the two. Brown was signed on-loan from Hull City prior to the Watford game last week and put on an impressive and assured performance. The no-nonsense defender will be hoping that his experience and strength will see him, and indeed Preston, prevail at Carrow Road.
Team News
With Jay McEveley's loan deal ending this week, it will mean that Alan Irvine will not be able name the same team that lost to Southampton last Saturday. Callum Davidson is widely expected to slot back in at left back whilst former Canary Chris Brown could feature after returning from injury in the aforementioned defeat to Southampton.
For the visitors, as mention above, Leroy Lita is more than likely to lead the Norwich forward line after having his loan deal extended by a further month. John Otsemobor made his return from an ankle injury against Burnley last week and could be in contention to start at right back against North End. Antoine Sibierski however, is a doubt after taking a knock or two.