Norwich City

Rob Butler
BBC Radio Norfolk Canary Call presenter

Norwich City are back at home on Saturday after two gruelling away trips. The Canaries were beaten on the road by Sheffield United and Leeds United but next up it's Swansea City in the Championship at Carrow Road (12:30 GMT).

City boss Johannes Hoff Thorup has spoken to the media ahead of the game, here are some of the key points:

• Defender Jose Cordoba could be back and on the bench on Saturday. The Panamanian has missed the last two games with a knee injury.

• Striker Josh Sargent is set to start against Swansea. The USA international is back from a long term groin injury and has been used as a substitute in the last two games.

• Anis Ben Slimane will return to team training next week and could be part of the squad for Watford on 1 February.

• Thorup says it has been light training for the players following the game against Leeds on Wednesday night. He says he wants to make sure his squad have enough energy to get through the busy schedule.

You can listen to full live commentary of Norwich City versus Swansea City with BBC Radio Norfolk on FM and DAB. Coverage begins at 14:00 GMT on Saturday.

Norwich, Coventry, Swansea and Peterborough are among the EFL clubs keeping tabs on teenage Wales midfielder Joe Andrews, who plays for non-league Chippenham. (Football Insider, external)

Want more transfer stories? Read Friday's full gossip column.

Swansea will seek to halt their slide down the Championship table as they head to Norwich on Saturday (12:30 GMT).

The Canaries are three places and two points above the 15th-placed Swans, with both sides having fallen away from the play-off race of late.

• Norwich City are winless across their past four league games against Swansea City (D1 L3), last enduring a longer run against the Welsh side between March 1925 and December 1936 (six games).

• Swansea City have won just two of their past 17 away league games against Norwich City (D4 L11), though are unbeaten on their last two visits to Carrow Road.

• Norwich have lost just two of their past 28 home league games (W17 D9), with the Canaries averaging 2.2 goals per game in that run.

• Swansea have lost each of their past three away league games and will be looking to avoid losing four in succession for the first time since March 2023.

• Norwich City's Josh Sargent has scored 15 goals across his last 19 Championship home games and could make his first league appearance at Carrow Road since October versus Middlesbrough.

Image source, Rex Features

Head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup spoke to BBC Radio Norfolk after Norwich's defeat to Leeds.

"On Saturday we found a bit of flow and rhythm and created more dangerous moments than we did today.

"Today it was obvious for us to see that we need those (extra) 10/15 per cent to realistically say that we can compete against Leeds - that's not where we are.

"We tried to give it a shot but it was not enough."

The Canaries head coach would not comment on whether Leeds midfielder Ao Tanaka deserved a second yellow card early in the second half.

"I can't say much because that would be the headine about the game and the fact is they were better than us," he said.

"Of course, the game picture could have changed a little bit, but we have to admit that we not in a place at the moment where we can go out and play against Leeds away and say that we have to win."

Thorup also said his injury-hit squad was unlikely to have anyone back from the treatment table before Saturday's match with Swansea.

He said: "The same players have to play all the games and they have to do it all over again on Saturday with not much recovery, so you will not be hearing me blame anyone. We have to solve the situation and deal with it."

Phil Daley
Radio Norfolk sports editor

Image source, Getty Images

Norwich City make another trip to Yorkshire on Wednesday night as they take on Leeds United at Elland Road (19:45 GMT).

In preparation for the game, head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup addressed the media and here are the key lines from his news conference:

• No players have recovered from injury. Norwich go to Leeds with the same availability as they had for Sheffield United on Saturday.

• Thorup says its's about "surviving for the next few games" while the injured players recover.

• Despite no shots on target against Sheffield United, Thorup says shots on target are not the best examples of good play. They had some good passages on Saturday that didn't end with a shot - but it was still good play.

• On the risk vs reward of playing out from the back, "we want to avoid duels in the game, we get that from a goal-kick. That's an open game and more random - we want control."

• On goalkeeper Angus Gunn - who is out of contract in the summer, Thorup said: "I hope that he is eager to learn and take the next steps in his career. He has taken some big steps with being comfortable on the ball, I think there has been improvement." Thorup says the club will have a conversation with him and his agent but other clubs will be interested.

• On facing Leeds at Elland Road, he said: "The are the toughest test for us at the moment, but that's what makes it exciting."

• Despite the quality in Leeds' squad, Thorup says he still believes the Canaries can win and he's looking at which of his players will step up and make an impact.

Leeds United will attempt to stay on top of the Championship as they host Norwich City on Wednesday (19:45 GMT).

Both sides faced clubs from Sheffield last time out, however, the league leaders fared the better, defeating Wednesday while the Canaries lost to promotion contenders United.

The win for Leeds extended their unbeaten streak to 10 games across all competitions, while they have not lost at Elland Road since September.

• Leeds are unbeaten across their past five league games against Norwich (W4 D1); the Whites last enjoyed a longer undefeated run against them between September 1963 and August 1975 (seven games).

• Norwich have won two of their past 11 away league games against Leeds (W2 D3 L6) and will look to avoid losing three in succession at Elland Road for the first time since December 1973.

• Leeds have not lost any of their midweek league games at home since returning to the Championship in the 2023-24 season (W7 D2), though they did draw their last such game 1-1 with Blackburn Rovers on New Year's Day.

• Norwich are unbeaten in their past four midweek league games, winning three of them (W3 D1).

• Dan James has provided four assists in his last six games against Norwich, including one in both previous matches for Leeds at Elland Road.

Image source, Getty Images

Norwich City boss Johannes Hoff Thorup spoke to BBC Radio Norfolk after their four-match unbeaten run came to an end with defeat at Sheffield United.

"We expected to be more on the ball because that's the way they approach the game so it's not that important for me.

"I expected us to dominate but I also expected us to be able to take better care of the chances that we got into.

"We had many situations in the box and around the box and offensive transitions, but the quality of decisions in the final third was below standard.

"I'm frustrated and disappointed about that because I think there was something for us in this game tonight and the goals we conceded are down to our own sloppiness in two vital moments."

Image source, BBC Sport

Chris Goreham

BBC Radio Norfolk Norwich City commentator

Image source, Getty Images

Johannes Hoff Thorup's latest injury bulletin leaves him with a selection headache for Norwich City's trip to Sheffield United.

He has only 15 players available who have featured for the Canaries in the Championship this season - that includes two goalkeepers, young defender Brad Hills, who has only nine minutes of league experience for City, and Josh Sargent, back for the first time in the league since October after injury.

Since the January transfer window opened Ashley Barnes, Christian Fassnacht, Kaide Gordon and Grant Hanley have all left the club.

Top scorer Borja Sainz is serving the second of a six-match ban for a spitting offence, and new signing Matej Jurasek will not be eligible until next month because of work permit issues.

The City midfield has been hit particularly hard and Marcelino Nunez, Liam Gibbs, Jacob Sorensen, Anis Ben Slimane, Gabriel Forsyth and Tony Springett are all missing through injury. Slimane only made his loan move from the Blades permanent earlier this week.

Thorup has confirmed his squad will include at least a couple of players from the academy who will be involved with the first team for the first time at Bramall Lane.

Image source, Getty Images

Norwich City boss Johannes Hoff Thorup has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Championship game against Sheffield United (kick-off 15:00 GMT).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• On the arrival of Slavia Prague winger Matěj Jurásek: "He can dribble, move, he's technically a great player and we wanted to get him before any other club did. Bigger clubs than us were starting to pay attention to him, so we got the deal done."

• On the departure of club captain Grant Hanley to Birmingham: "He's been a great part of the club. Everything has to come to an end sometime and we wish him well on his new adventure."

• Midfielder Marcelino Nunez had a scan on his hamstring this week and will be out "for about three weeks, depending how aggressive we want to be with bringing him back sooner - but the scan was ok."

• Kaide Gordon returned to Liverpool this week, cutting his loan short with Thorup saying: "I rate him as a good player with a big potential. If he was a player on a long contract I would be prepared to work with him longer. We didn't really get the performances from day one, so it's a fine balance. He was a pleasure to work with and I wish him all the best."

• Callum Doyle is fit, he was taken off at half-time in the FA Cup defeat to Brighton last weekend. Amankwa Forson will not be part of the squad because of a knee problem.

• Josh Sargent played the last 10 minutes of the FA Cup defeat with the striker "looking good, in a good mood and full of energy."

• On Sheffield United: "We had some good moments in the match at Carrow Road so we will try to replicate that. If we find the flow in our game, we can hurt them. We will have to be smart when we risk the ball because they are extremely good on the counter-attack."

League One leaders Birmingham City have opened talks with Norwich City over a potential deal for defender Grant Hanley. (Football Insider, external)

Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Friday's gossip here.

Image source, Getty Images

Norwich City fans will be excited by watching new signing Matej Jurasek, according to British coach Jonathan Davies, who works in the academy at Slavia Prague.

The Canaries completed the signing of the winger on Thursday from the current Czech top flight leaders for an undisclosed fee.

"He's very tenacious, he's good at defending, and works very hard on the pitch for the team," Davies told BBC Radio Norfolk.

"His main attributes are his dribbling skills and his one-on-one skills. He's really exciting to watch and gets people off their seats."

The 21-year-old Czech international will not be able to join up with Norwich until the beginning of February because of work permit rules.

"He's changed quite a lot over the years. He's from a small city, not too dissimilar to Norwich, and when he came to Prague he was quite overwhelmed by it.

"I'm hoping he can integrate quickly into a new environment, and if he does, Norwich have a rough diamond and potential star on their hands for little money," added Davies.

Promotion-chasing Sheffield United host Norwich City on Saturday (15:00 GMT) as they continue to contend for the title.

The Blades are currently third in the table, level on points with second-placed Burnley and one point behind league leaders Leeds United.

However, United have only won one of their past five games and suffered a defeat by Cardiff City in the FA Cup at the weekend.

Norwich have not lost any of their past four league games but were thrashed out of the Cup by Premier League side Brighton.

• Sheffield United are unbeaten across their past eight league games against Norwich (W5 D3), a run directly following a stint during which the Blades suffered eight defeats across 10 meetings with the Norfolk side (W2).

• Norwich have lost just two of their past 10 league games against sides from Yorkshire (W5 D3), though were defeated in their last such match, by Sheffield Wednesday, in November.

• After winning nine of their first 10 home league games this season (D1), Sheffield United are since winless in their past two at Bramall Lane (D1 L1); the Blades haven't gone three without victory in the Championship at home under boss Chris Wilder since December 2018.

• Norwich have won their past two league games and will be aiming to win three in a row for the first time since March 2024.

• Since the beginning of last season, Norwich have averaged 1.6 points per game in the 51 Championship matches with Borja Sainz in their starting XI (W22 D16 L13) compared to 1.3 points in their 21 matches without the Spaniard in their line-up (W8 D3 L10).

Championship side Norwich City have joined the chase for highly-rated Peterborough striker Ricky-Jade Jones, 22, who is out of contract at the end of the season. (Football League World), external

Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Tuesday's gossip here.