Norwich City

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Norwich City winger Ali Ahmed admits he is still coming to terms with the physical demands of the Championship after moving to England from Major League Soccer.

The Canada international scored his third goal for the Canaries in Saturday's 2-0 win at Leicester City, his ninth league appearance for the club.

And the result was achieved despite team-mates playing out of position because of injury problems in the squad.

"It was a top team performance, especially with all the bodies going down," the former Vancouver Whitecaps player told BBC Radio Norfolk.

"It's crazy. I don't know if I've seen anything like it. Errol (Mundle-Smith) playing striker, it's not his position. Gibbsy [Liam Gibbs], playing right wing, put in a shift.

"There's no game where you can go in and think it's going to be easy. Every minute of every game is a challenge.

"Before coming into the league, every person, player, coach I spoke to talked about the intensity and the physicality of it and, my word, it's lived up to every single word.

"I think that's good for me, it's an area I want to improve in myself. Definitely my body is feeling it but I love playing every two or three days."

The result at Leicester put Norwich 11 points clear of the Championship relegation places and Ahmed said head coach Philippe Clement had been stressing the need to win the first 15 minutes of every game.

"We set the tone, we were on the front foot and when we come out like that, the belief we have, it's tough for teams to stop," he added. "In some recent games we've been coming out a little slow and it's been killing us."

Norwich now have a break from league action and will be away to Leeds United, managed by former Canaries boss Daniel Farke, in the FA Cup on Sunday.

Norwich manager Philippe Clement made it 11 wins from his 20 matches in charge and said his players are enjoying themselves as they climb the Championship table.

Clement told BBC Radio Norfolk: "I'm pleased with the performance and the dominance for the whole game. If we could have scored in the first half we could have released ourselves a little bit faster, but we did in the second half.

"I'm proud of how the team took the game tactically, physically, technically and mentally. Everyone showed hunger and desire to get the three points, but in our way, with our football.

"You see a lot of joy on the pitch, when we score, when we do good things. Everybody is living the story, also the players who are not playing are all involved in the same way as when they are on the pitch."

Anis Ben Slimane scored the opening goal after passing a fitness test shortly before kick-off and coming off the bench, and Clement said: "He was very, very close [to not playing]. He did a warm-up, had tests to make to see if he was ready to play in the game, and the amount of minutes. He said he felt OK and I believe my players."

Image source, Coventry City FC

You might not hear the old terrace refrain of 'you're not fit to wear the shirt' as often as you used to, but it still has a better ring than 'the shirt's not fit for you to wear'.

Championship leaders Coventry City launched a new collection on Friday, proudly taking inspiration from a kit widely dubbed the 'Worst of All Time'.

A take on the club's infamous brown change strip worn away from Highfield Road from 1978 to 1981, the modern reinvention features what the club calls "a deeper chocolate plum colour with sky blue elements".

Many would suggest it sounds tastier than it looks.

But it's got us thinking... what are actually the worst EFL kits of all time? Let us know which of your club's shirts is hiding in the back of the wardrobe, or even if they were too ugly for you to even part money for them.

We'll collate a list of the biggest eyesores and will give you the chance to vote on the ghastliest of all next week.

Click here to let us know your suggestion, and you can even attach a picture if you really want to convey the horror.

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Norwich City forward Mohamed Toure has been ruled out for four to six weeks with a groin injury, leaving the Canaries with a dearth of fit strikers.

The 21-year-old has scored five goals and registered one assist in five games in all competitions since signing from Danish club Randers on 1 February.

But the Australia international limped off after just nine minutes of the 2-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday on Wednesday night.

With Ante Crnac and top goalscorer Jovon Makama both ruled out for the rest of the season and Josh Sargent completing his move to MLS club Toronto FC, it leaves Mathias Kvistgaarden as Norwich's only available senior striker.

Kvistgaarden has already missed seven league games with injury this season and replaced Toure against the Owls before himself being subbed off for defender Jakov Medic, who can operate as a makeshift nine.

"I need to be very pragmatic now about what to do to get results because at the end of the day, it's about that," Norwich head coach Philippe Clement told BBC Radio Norfolk.

"In May, nobody can think about 'OK, we missed that moment of the season so many players or in that position we didn't have players'.

"It will be about how many points we have and that's football and that's the reality. So we need to be pragmatic to get, in the best ways, the points."

Clement said there are no strikers in the club's academy who are "up to Championship level" and challenged the rest of the squad to contribute with goals.

"The way I want to play football is that the danger comes from everywhere," Clement added.

"So not only from the striker to score goals, but also from our wingers, our midfielders, our full-backs, our centre-halves even.

"Several players are scoring goals now who never scored before for the club and we need to continue that way.

"That's also a big strength that you need to have as a club, that you're not so predictable for your opponents.

"If they stop one, two players, they stop your offensive work. So now we cause more problems for our opponents because the danger can come from everywhere."

Image source, Opta

Leicester will try to end their eight-game winless Championship streak and climb out of the relegation zone when they host Norwich on Saturday (12:30 GMT).

The Foxes remain third-bottom, a point behind West Brom, despite picking-up back-to-back draws under Gary Rowett, at Stoke last Saturday and at Middlesbrough on Tuesday night, but have lost their past three games at the King Power and last won against Albion on 5 January.

Norwich climbed to 17th, eight points clear of the drop-zone after following last Saturday's home defeat to Birmingham with a 2-0 success against Sheffield Wednesday at Carrow Road on Wednesday night.

• Leicester have won each of their past five league games against Norwich, since a 1-0 loss in the Premier League in February 2020.

• Norwich have conceded at least twice in each of their past five league games against Leicester, as many times as they had in their previous 20 against the Foxes.

• Leicester have lost their past three Championship home games. They last lost more consecutively in the same season (outside the top-flight) in April 1914.

• Norwich have won four of their past five away league games (L1), as many as in their previous 31 on the road (D12 L15).

• Only three players have scored more away league goals for Norwich City this season than Mo Toure (3), despite the Australian playing just 60 minutes on the road so far.

Norwich City boss Philippe Clement spoke to BBC Radio Norfolk following their 2-0 home win against Sheffield Wednesday.

"We knew Sheffield Wednesday were a team that had lost a lot of games - but a lot, I think, by only one goal difference.

"We knew it was a massive game and we could not underestimate them and we had by far the most chances, most possession, two good goals, could have been more, so a lot of pleasing things.

"The team stayed focused, very professional, very well organised and that's our strength that we need to use in the coming weeks and months.

"Taking players off when they are good in the game because in a few days you have another game and they're not ready to play 90 minutes two times in a row, it's a tough job and we're working hard to make them stronger, to make them better.

"Paris was good in the game but we need him again on Saturday, it's not the easiest way to be a manager, to manage all that, but I'm really happy how everybody gives everything for the team in whatever position they need to play.

"It's a big difference with the beginning of the season that there is a cohesive team always working together, well organised, knowing what to do with and without the ball and that helps us to get the points and deserve the wins also."

January signing Mohamed Toure went off in only the sixth minute with what appeared to be a groin injury.

"First look, it was not good, but let's wait and see," Clement added.

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Norwich City tried to persuade 16-year-old prodigy Ajay Tavares to remain at the club before he signed for Barcelona.

The young winger's move to the Spanish giants was confirmed earlier this week and he will initially be part of Barca's Juvenil A squad.

"We spoke to him about staying here, we had good talks about that, but at the end he made the choice to go and I understand why," head coach Philippe Clement told BBC Radio Norfolk.

"Everybody needs to be proud about that. Barcelona is not bringing in lots of players so that means he has exceptional things.

"That's also because of all the work everybody in the academy did with him but also about himself, what he did, his parents and his family."

Tavares first joined the Canaries at under-12 level, having previously been with Aylsham FC's Jaguars junior side.

"What an amazing achievement, a great message to share that with determination and hard work dreams really can come true!!!" Aylsham posted on X, external on Monday.

He played for Norwich at under-18 and under-21 level and had a run-out for the first team in a pre-season friendly against Volendam last summer.

"You want to keep players with those qualities but with the rules as they are it's impossible for us to tie down a player at his age because you cannot give him a big contract - there are different rules in Spain around that," said Clement.

"He has also a Portuguese passport - if it's an English passport you get a bigger amount of money as a club.

"There are a few things that are maybe disappointing but overall one of the local Norwich guys can go to La Masia and show his talent there and I think it's a point you need to be proud of as a club."

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Norwich City boss Philippe Clement offered consolatory words to Sheffield Wednesday counterpart Henrik Pedersen ahead of the meeting of the two teams at Carrow Road on Wednesday night.

The Owls' relegation was confirmed by defeat in the Steel City derby last weekend and they have now lost 10 games in a row.

Asked if he had ever been in a similar situation, Clement told BBC Radio Norfolk: "Not as a manager - as a player, yes, playing in a team as a young boy when they could not pay the wages.

"I still lived at home so it was not a big problem for me, but I saw team-mates with families, with children, struggling in that moment because they were not paid.

"I have seen those things and it was really hard, so I can only imagine how hard it is to work like that as a manager."

Clement confirmed, however, that Wednesday's predicament would have no bearing on Norwich's preparations for the game as they look to bounce back from a home loss to Birmingham City.

"For me, motivationally, there's no difference between playing against Sheffield Wednesday or Coventry or Barcelona," the Belgian said.

"It's about winning, and it's about giving everything to win this game as a team together."

Image source, Opta

While Sheffield Wednesday prepare for life in League One, Norwich will seek to put further ground between themselves and the drop-zone on Wednesday (19:45 GMT).

Sunday's derby defeat at Sheffield United was a 10th straight loss for the Owls and confirmed their relegation, though seven of the 11 points they have earned on the pitch this season have come away from Hillsborough, including their only win of the season at Portsmouth in September.

After a run of five wins in six games, the Canaries went down 2-1 at home to Birmingham on Saturday but remain four places and six points ahead of the bottom three.

• Norwich are winless in their past four league games against Sheffield Wednesday (D2 L2), having won three in a row against them before this.

• Sheffield Wednesday won this exact fixture 3-2 last season, last winning consecutive away league games against Norwich between 2005 and 2009 (4 in a row).

• Norwich have only failed to score in one of their past 12 league games against Sheffield Wednesday, though they've also only kept one clean sheet in that run.

• Norwich have won their past three midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) league games by an aggregate score of 10-1, having been winless in nine before this (D4 L5).

• Sheffield Wednesday are winless in their past nine midweek (Tues, Weds, Thurs) league games (D4 L5), with their last win coming at Norwich in this exact fixture last season.

Image source, Shutterstock

Norwich boss Philippe Clement felt the Canaries lost 2-1 to Birmingham at Carrow Road because of their poor start.

Norwich trailed 2-0 after just 14 minutes before they staged a comeback in the second 45 minutes, which Clement hailed as their best half under him.

The Belgian told BBC Radio Norfolk: "There were different parts to the game. In the first 20 minutes, were by far not good enough and not what we have been doing in the last few months, not on the front foot, not enough tempo on the ball, not finding the solutions and defensively giving away too much space.

"In the second half we changed it and we started to play better. At half-time, we could talk about the things which were totally not good, to go into details with the ball and without the ball.

"The second half was maybe the best half under me, I think. The passion, the quality on the ball, the chances, and a good goal.

"We were really unlucky not to have the points. We had 62 per cent ball possession, we had more chances than Birmingham, but they go home with the points and we lost the points in the first 20 minutes."

Norwich City are currently top of the Championship's form guide with 15 points from their past six games, level with Middlesbrough but having scored more and conceded fewer goals.

The Canaries have moved seven points clear of the relegation zone under head coach Philippe Clement, who has won 11 of his 19 games since being appointed in November.

Birmingham City will arrive in Norfolk two points short of the top six and with only one defeat from their past 10 outings.

• Norwich have lost their past two league games against Birmingham, which is more defeats than they suffered in their previous 19 games against the Blues in league competition (W12 D6).

• Birmingham won 4-1 against Norwich earlier this season (November 2025) and could do the league double over the Canaries for the first time since 2001-02.

• Norwich City have won six of their past eight league games (L2), with no Championship side winning more points than the Canaries since the turn of the year (18, level with Middlesbrough).

• Birmingham have won their past two away league games (2-0 vs both Sheffield Wednesday and Oxford United), as many wins as they recorded across their first 14 games on the road this season. They are looking to win three successive away league matches without conceding for the first time since October 2015.

• Norwich City have won their past two league games, keeping a clean sheet in both (2-0 vs Blackburn Rovers and 3-0 vs Oxford United); they last went on a longer league run without conceding in March 2021 (3 games).