Stoke City play host to Norwich City on Saturday afternoon looking for the win that would put considerable distance between themselves and the Championship bottom three.
At a time when the Potters sit in 19th position in the table, the visitors to the bet365 Stadium occupy the last place in the playoffs on goal difference.
Match preview
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Almost four months on from David Wagner having been on the brink of the sack, he has put Norwich into a position where they are regarded as favourites to earn a playoff spot.
Since the turn of the year, an impressive seven wins have been recorded from 12 games, with the only two defeats during this run coming at Leeds United and Middlesbrough.
Their home form has proven crucial in recent months, as the Canaries have recorded six successive victories at Carrow Road, with their latest success coming by a 5-0 scoreline against Rotherham United.
In sharp contrast, though, Norwich have recently failed on their travels, going four games without success and remaining with the 19th-best away record in the division.
Prior to losing at Middlesbrough, though, draws were recorded against Queens Park Rangers and Blackburn Rovers, at least keeping the East Anglia side ticking in the right direction.
As far as Stoke are concerned, they had also started to become reliant on their home form with no away success having come on their travels since January 13 prior to the trip to Preston North End.
Four successive away defeats had been posted during that time, but Steven Schumacher witnessed his team produce one of their best showings under his guidance to win 2-1 at Deepdale.
Defeat in the North West may have kept the club in the bottom three, highlighting the magnitude of the win, but Stoke have now prevailed in three of their last six games in the Championship.
In most campaigns, that would have been enough to move clear of the bottom three, but the form of the teams around them leave Stoke needing back-to-back wins for the first time since October to move further away from the relegation zone.
Team News
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Stoke will be forced into at least one alteration with Wouter Berger starting a two-match suspension for collecting his 10th yellow card.
Jordan Thompson, Ben Pearson or Luke Cundle could be drafted back into the team as a straight replacement, or Josh Laurent may drop back into a more familiar central-midfield role.
Million Manhoef is an alternative in a wide area, while Enda Stevens could make his long-awaited return to the squad, but Junior Tchamadeu remains absent.
Meanwhile, Norwich boss Wagner may opt for the same side that stormed into a 4-0 lead versus Rotherham by half time, subsequently resulting in players being rested.
Dimitris Giannoulis has suffered a hamstring injury and will be unavailable, joining the likes of Shane Duffy, Onel Hernandez and Jonathan Rowe on the sidelines.
Stoke City possible starting lineup:
Iversen; Rose, McNally, Wilmot; Hoever, Pearson, Baker, Gooch; Laurent, Campbell, Bae
Norwich City possible starting lineup:
Gunn; Stacey, Sorensen, Gibson, McCallum; Nunez, McLean; Sara, Barnes, Sainz; Sargent
We say: Stoke City 1-1 Norwich City
Although there is a wide margin between these two sides in the table, Stoke's win last weekend goes some way to levelling the playing field. With that in mind, do not be surprised if a competitive low-scoring draw is played out, one that suits Stoke more than Norwich.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Darren Plant
