Norwich City

Phil Daley
Sports Editor, BBC Norfolk

Image source, Getty Images

Norwich City head coach Philippe Clement has spoken to the media before the Canaries' Championship match at Bristol City.

Here are some of the key points:

• Clement says he's seen a good reaction from his players following the derby defeat to Ipswich last weekend. "It's about taking lessons from it and moving on," he said.

• The club met with representatives of the officials from last weekend's game for some clarity over some decisions.

• Despite having a large number of corners last weekend, they failed to take advantage of them. Clement says it's an area they must improve on.

• Defender Ben Chrisene has been struggling with a shoulder injury for a period of time. He will see a specialist next week and could miss the remainder of the season.

• Jeff Schlupp will be back in the squad after returning from injury.

• Jovon Makama and Papa Amadou Diallo are both back "out on the grass" but a return to action is not yet imminent.

• Clement will be serving a touchline ban after picking up another yellow card in the defeat to Ipswich. He says he will watch the game with his analyst.

You can listen to full live commentary of Bristol City v Norwich City with BBC Radio Norfolk on FM and DAB and online from 15:00 BST.

Both these sides are now 10 points off the play-offs with only goal difference separating them ahead of their meeting on Saturday (15:00 BST).

Bristol City, in 10th place, missed their chance to leapfrog ninth-placed Norwich after their stalemate at QPR last time out, but will get the chance to do so again with a win.

Norwich will be licking their wounds after suffering a 2-0 home defeat by their East Anglian rivals Ipswich last Saturday which saw a chance of a play-off finish move further away.

• Bristol City have won their last three league games against Norwich, having won just one of their previous 14 against the Canaries (D4 L9).

• Norwich have alternated between victory (2) and defeat (2) in their last four away league games against Bristol City, losing 2-1 in this fixture last season.

• Bristol City are unbeaten in their three Championship games under Roy Hodgson (W2 D1), keeping a clean sheet in the last two. They last had a longer run of league clean sheets in March/April 2024 (4).

• Norwich were beaten by Ipswich last time out, and they are yet to lose consecutive Championship matches across their 27 played under Philippe Clement.

• Scott Twine has been directly involved in 17 goals in the Championship this season (11 goals, 6 assists) – no player has had more for Bristol City in a single league campaign since 2021-22 (Andreas Weimann 32, Antoine Semenyo 20 and Chris Martin 18).

"It's one of those moments where you have to think to yourself: We've had 16 years of pure enjoyment and not a single trip up. It's been three decades since Norwich lost at home to Ipswich."

"It's painful but we have to remember we've enjoyed it for so long. Let them have their moment, but the pendulum always swings the other way and Norwich City will come back to haunt them once more..."

Join Rob Butler and Chris Reeve on The Scrimmage podcast as they discuss the once-in-a-generation home defeat to East Anglian rivals Ipswich, whether the visitors should have gone down to 10 men and how everyone can bounce back from such a disheartening defeat, before hearing fans opinions on Norwich City's season under Philippe Clement.

Listen to more episodes of The Scrimmage on BBC Sounds.

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Norwich City boss Philippe Clement says he misses VAR after watching his side lose 2-0 at home to East Anglian rivals Ipswich.

The visitors took an early lead through a penalty which Clement feels would not have been awarded had video technology been available to the officials.

"It hurts because you lose and secondly because you start the game well and you get a penalty against you which isn't a penalty," Clement told BBC Radio Norfolk.

"Anis (Ben Slimane) clears the ball, the second player comes from behind him and he's diving already before maybe a small, small contact is made.

"Those are the moments where I miss VAR to get the right decisions in the game because they are game-deciding moments and the same goes with (Marcelino) Nunez staying on the pitch when he should have had a second yellow card and then you have a different situation."

Jaden Philogene converted the penalty before George Hirst added a second goal just before half-time and the Norwich head coach admits they also did not help themselves during the game.

"We were the better team on the ball, getting into the opponents' box more but we missed the ruthlessness and otherwise it might have been a win or at least a draw but we have to learn from that and become better," he added.

Norwich are next in Championship action at Bristol City on Saturday, 18 April (15:00 BST).

Listen to Norwich City content and interviews on BBC Sounds.

Norwich City head coach Philippe Clement said he is ready to "embrace" the challenge of his first East Anglian derby against Ipswich Town.

Saturday's lunchtime kick-off (12:30 BST) pits two of the Championship's form teams against each other, with Norwich looking to reverse the result of the game at Portman Road earlier in the season, when they lost 3-1 with Liam Manning in charge.

Clement has plenty of experience of derbies in his native Belgium, France and Scotland, where he was in charge of Rangers.

"I loved it because the passion was really pure, sometimes raw also. People have a passion for their club and for football," he told BBC Radio Norfolk. "I loved those moments, so I'm sure I'm going to enjoy tomorrow.

"You feel the excitement of everybody around you, the people in the building. I hear also from fans that my wife met while she was in the city.

"I've been in a lot of derbies in more than 30 years in football. I know it's always a special occasion for the fans - it's a life or death thing almost - and I enjoy those moments."

Clement said his players had responded "brilliantly" to the pressure of being in the relegation places when he arrived, and although he is sure they can cope with the pressure, he does not want to see too many enjoying themselves during the game.

"We are growing and getting better and doing a lot of good things. It's a good test for my team. Enjoying is not being happy that your players are happy, enjoying is winning a derby.

"They need to do the right things for that. You want to be better than the last game, that's the mentality I want to see from the team. If they succeed, they can enjoy afterwards but not during the game."

On Ipswich counterpart Kieran McKenna, Clement added: "He's a manager with a really clear system, way of working, really clear principles. He's done a really good job there so Ipswich are a tough team to beat. That's why they are playing for promotion, why they are in second place."

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The EFL has announced the fixtures for the 2026-27 season will be published at midday on Thursday, 25 June.

The first-round draws for the Carabao Cup and the Vertu Trophy will be made on the same day.

The new season will kick off on the weekend of August 7-9 with the first round of the Carabao Cup, and the opening fixtures in the Championship, League One and League Two will follow a week later on 14-16 August.

The first round of the Vertu Trophy will be played in the week commencing 21 September.

Image source, Opta

What a game in store on Saturday lunchtime (12:30 BST) as Ipswich head to Norwich for one of the biggest East Anglian Derbies in recent memory.

The Tractor Boys are unbeaten in eight games, earning 18 points, which took them into the automatic promotion places on goal difference, with games in hand on the sides around them, ahead of Millwall's Friday night game at West Brom.

The Lions were beaten 2-1 at home by Norwich on Monday, which left the Canaries on the fringe of the play-off race in ninth, though Southampton's thumping win at Wrexham on Tuesday night left Philippe Clement's men effectively nine points adrift of the top six with five games to play.

Kieran McKenna's side enjoyed a 3-1 win in the reverse fixture at Portman Road in early October and another at Carrow Road would not only be their first in more than 20 years and ensure local bragging rights, it would likely end their rivals' promotion hopes and give their own chances a massive boost.

• Norwich are unbeaten in their past nine home league games against Ipswich (W5 D4), since a 2-1 loss in February 2006.

• Following their 3-1 win in October, Ipswich are looking to complete the league double over Norwich for the first time since 1992-93.

• Since the turn of the year, Norwich City have won the most points of any Championship side (37), winning two more games (12) in that time than any other team. At the end of 2025, the Canaries were 23rd in the Championship, with only Sheffield Wednesday losing more games (14) than they had (13).

• Ipswich Town have had the most shots following a high turnover in the Championship this season (59), and have scored the most goals after a high turnover (11).

• In his first 25 Championship appearances this season, Norwich's Pelle Mattsson had 22 shots without finding the net. In his last three, he's had six attempts and scored a goal in all three games.

Marc Webber
BBC Final Score reporter

Image source, Shutterstock

With second in the form table hosting second in the actual table, this weekend's East Anglian derby is lining up to be one of the most important fixtures of its time.

Ipswich will take heart that they regained the derby crown earlier in the season, but fans and players will know 'them up the road' are having a resurgence since that 3-1 win at Portman Road one sunny Sunday afternoon in October.

And that is why nerves and emotions will be the decider of Saturday's game at Carrow Road.

Passion will either drive both sides to go all out in a potential thriller of a game.

Or nerves will make both sides play a cautious, dull game - with players being afraid of making the one mistake that could make them the headlines for the wrong reason.

The thing is, both sides realistically need a win. Norwich to keep a play-off place hope alive, Ipswich to put some distance between second and third place.

That's why it is hard to see this derby being anything short of a gung-ho thriller.

Marc Webber
BBC Final Score reporter

Image source, Shutterstock

"We can't wait for derby day!" proclaimed the personal X account of Norwich boss Philippe Clement after their Monday Millwall win.

That's a phrase you never thought you would see a Norwich City head coach say earlier in the season, when the Canaries were quagmired in the relegation zone and some were already planning League One away days.

But now they find themselves looking up, second in the Championship form table, and heading into one of the tightest and most important East Anglian derbies in modern history.

Ipswich are eighth in the form table, but second in the real one. And they are able to grind out wins from nervy performances, as evidenced in their 2-1 Monday victory over Birmingham City.

That is why the rivalry, the home fans and the occasion will very much be the deciding factors for this Saturday's derby, which I am sure will be an absolute thriller.

Form will not win this game. Pure passion will.

Norwich City manager Philippe Clement told BBC Radio Norfolk he was proud to see "two faces" of his team during today's impressive 2-1 comeback win at promotion chasers Millwall.

"I'm pleased with not the only the result, but I think this was our best performance of the season, in intensity and technically," he said.

"We played a really good game against a strong side - as they showed at Middlesbrough. We dominated the game, and should have scored two or three.

"They showed both faces - not only the sexy football people are talking about, but also the resilience, power, fight and organisation.

"We saw the tough side and the nice side, so I'm really proud of the team.

"I totally understand the fans' excitement, but speaking about promotion and play-offs, you have to be consistent all season."

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Norwich City boss Philippe Clement has been left frustrated by the nature of loanee defender Harry Amass' return to parent club Manchester United.

The 19-year-old signed on a loan deal from the Red Devils in January until the end of the season having spent the first half of the season at Sheffield Wednesday.

Amass suffered a "serious" injury in training, later revealed to be a hamstring injury, days after making his Canaries debut as a substitute in the victory over Championship league leaders Coventry City.

Before Norwich's match against Millwall on Easter Monday, Clement said Amass has now returned to parent club Manchester United to continue his rehabilitation and is not expected to play again for Norwich before his deal comes to an end.

"We wanted things to be different with Harry, but Manchester United are the owners of the player and they decided not to come here for his rehab and not to have Harry here in these weeks," Clement said.

"We wish it was a different situation and I don't want to go into what Harry wanted, that's for him to say but it is what it is; they are the owners of the player and they decided to keep him there until the end of the season."