Norwich City will be looking to close the gap on the top six when they host Birmingham City at Carrow Road in the Championship on Tuesday night.
The Canaries are set for a tough battle in order to earn a playoff berth this season under David Wagner, whereas Birmingham could yet be dragged into a relegation fight after a difficult period since returning from the World Cup break.
Match preview
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Norwich have endured an indifferent run of form of late under the stewardship of Wagner, with their last four Championship fixtures returning just four points - a ratio that is not often associated with promotion pushes.
Back-to-back defeats against league leaders Burnley and Bristol City at the start of February threatened to completely derail the Canaries' top-six bid, but a 3-1 win over Hull City and a goalless draw at Wigan Athletic since then have put Wagner's men onto a good footing once more.
At the DW Stadium on Saturday - similar to the vast majority of their second-tier matches - Norwich enjoyed over 60% of possession, although the visitors were unable to carve out enough meaningful chances, managing just one shot on target compared to Wigan's six attempts on net.
Many key components of Norwich's last two Championship promotions are no longer plying their trade at Carrow Road - such as midfielder Todd Cantwell - and Wagner's side certainly have a less-intimidating feel compared to the Canaries teams who won the league in the 2018-19 and 2020-2021 seasons.
Norwich have a good recent record against Tuesday's opponents - the East Anglians have not lost to Birmingham in their last nine meetings, winning eight of those.
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Birmingham are heading to Carrow Road on Tuesday off the back of successive defeats against relegation-threatened Cardiff City and Huddersfield Town - a pair of results which have led to concerns of a relegation battle in the Second City.
Unlike in the St Andrew's clash against Sabri Lamouchi's Bluebirds last Tuesday, Blues created plenty of clear opportunities to score at the John Smith's Stadium against Neil Warnock's Terriers, but a mixture of squandered chances and suspect defending led to a 2-1 defeat.
That defeat in Yorkshire, combined with victories for Blackpool and Cardiff, has meant that the relegation pack have gained significantly on John Eustace's side in the past week, with Blues now only seven points ahead of the bottom three with 14 games left to play.
The range in quality of performances from Birmingham over the last fortnight has left Bluenoses wondering which team will turn up in East Anglia on Tuesday, although there is a general feeling that this group of players possess enough individual quality to avoid a relegation battle which supporters have become all too familiar with over recent years.
Blues have already travelled to Carrow Road this season, with a first-round EFL Cup tie back in August ending in penalty-shootout defeat for an XI full of academy prospects and players on the fringes of Eustace's first-team squad.
Team News
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Norwich City suffered an injury blow against Wigan on Saturday, as American Josh Sargent was forced off with an ankle injury at half time - the striker is a major doubt for Tuesday's meeting with Birmingham.
Leading scorer Pukki is also set to miss out for the Canaries as he continues to recover from a calf injury, an absence which means Adam Idah is likely to start up front once more.
Wagner has hinted at making plenty of changes to his XI after a sluggish performance at the DW Stadium last time out, with Marcelino Nunez and Christos Tzolis pushing for starts.
Birmingham have two fresh injury concerns after the trip to Huddersfield, with both Krystian Bielik and Troy Deeney being substituted with issues in the latter stages of the game on Saturday.
Polish international Bielik was stretchered off the field after a poor challenge from Etienne Camara in the 75th minute, and although the injury does not seem as serious as first feared, it is extremely unlikely the midfielder will feature at Carrow Road.
Deeney was replaced by Lukas Jutkiewicz after pulling his hamstring in the second half, meaning Eustace now has very little options of whom to partner Scott Hogan with in Birmingham's two-man forward line.
Norwich City possible starting lineup:
Gunn; Aarons, Gibson, Hanley, Giannoulis; Gibbs, Nunez, Sara, Hernandez, Tzolis; Idah
Birmingham City possible starting lineup:
Ruddy; Sanderson, Long, Trusty; Colin, Gardner, Chong, Hannibal, Longelo; Jutkiewicz, Hogan
We say: Norwich City 2-1 Birmingham City
Norwich were disappointed after leaving Wigan with just a point on Saturday afternoon and will be desperate to get back to winning ways in order to keep the top six within touching distance.
Birmingham were hit with a loss as well as two damaging injuries at Huddersfield last time out, and it will be a tough ask to avoid a similar fate in terms of the result at Carrow Road on Tuesday night.
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Top tip
Carter White
