Norwich City play host to Bristol City on Saturday afternoon knowing that victory will put them on the brink of sealing a Championship playoff place.
Despite the recent unbeaten streak of the visitors, they make the long trip to Carrow Road with only a top-10 finish in the standings in their sights.
Match preview
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Given the manner of how they dropped points against Sheffield Wednesday, Norwich fans may have had concerns that defeat at Preston North End would derail their promotion hopes.
Instead, the Canaries held firm at Deepdale before scoring a late goal to secure a 1-0 victory, all but ending Preston's own promotion hopes in the process.
As a result, Norwich hold a six-point advantage in the race for the playoffs, albeit having to be aware of Hull City and Coventry City having games in hand.
David Wagner will stress that his players need to focus on their own business, and losing just two of their most recent 14 fixtures justifies that opinion.
Norwich also head into this fixture with one of the best home records in English football, posting victories in each of their last eight fixtures at Carrow Road.
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However, the East Anglian outfit next face a side in Bristol City who are putting together a strong end to what has otherwise being a frustrating campaign.
A total of 11 points have been accumulated from their last five games, while they also kept four clean sheets along the away before drawing 1-1 with Huddersfield Town.
In isolation, dropping points at home to the strugglers was a disappointing result, yet Liam Manning will take the positives from a last-gasp equaliser extending their unbeaten streak to five fixtures.
That is their longest such run of the season and it will need to be maintained if Bristol City wish to remain in contention for the top 10, with the current deficit standing at five points.
Team News
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Wagner must decide whether to hand a start to Jonathan Rowe, who has recently returned from a long-term injury layoff.
However, a place on the substitutes' bench appears more likely, particularly with the playoffs in mind, and an unchanged team is a possibility.
The likes of Jacob Sorensen and Dimitris Giannoulis remain on the sidelines through injury.
With Bristol City needing to form a makeshift back three due to several injuries to their centre-backs, it is plausible that Manning sticks with the same side from the Huddersfield game.
If a change is made, Nahki Wells may come back into the attack at the expense of Tommy Conway, while Taylor Gardner-Hickman may receive his first game time since March 16.
Norwich City possible starting lineup:
Gunn; Stacey, Duffy, Gibson, McCallum; Nunez, McLean; Sara, Barnes, Sainz; Sargent
Bristol City possible starting lineup:
O'Leary; McCrorie, Tanner, Roberts; Sykes, James, Williams, Pring; Knight, Conway, Twine
We say: Norwich City 2-1 Bristol City
Despite the relentlessness of Norwich at Carrow Road, we expect Bristol City to push them all the way here. However, that may still not be enough, and the Canaries could edge this fixture in the final quarter of the game.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Darren Plant
