Norwich City

Image source, EFL

Puma's Rainbow ball will return to the English Football League as part of an on-going campaign against discrimination and homophobia.

The special edition rainbow ball was introduced in 2024 to mark LGBTQ+ History Month and will be used at every EFL game from 20 February until 1 March.

Manufacturers Puma will make a donation to Football v Homophobia for every goal scored with their rainbow ball across the Championship, League One and League Two.

The donations will help support education against homophobia and promote inclusion across the season.

The EFL have released a video, external to coincide with the campaign which features a Preston North End fan who was charged with a hate crime following homophobic chanting during an FA Cup fixture against Chelsea.

The rainbow ball will also feature in EFL partner EA Sports' FC 26 video game.

"The rainbow ball is a powerful symbol of the values we uphold across the EFL all season long," EFL chief executive officer Trevor Birch said.

"It not only reflects our longstanding commitment to ensuring the League is representative of all its diverse communities, but also reminds us that we all have a role to play in creating an environment in which everyone feels they truly belong."

Image source, Getty Images

The draw for the FA Cup fifth round has been made. Here is a list of all the ties in the order they were drawn.

• Fulham v Southampton

• Port Vale or Bristol City v Sunderland

• Newcastle United v Manchester City

• Leeds United v Norwich City

• Mansfield Town v Arsenal

• Wolverhampton Wanderers v Liverpool

• Wrexham v Chelsea

• West Ham v Macclesfield or Brentford

The matches will be played over the weekend of 7 March.

Watch all the highlights and best video from this season's FA Cup

Marc Webber
Final Score reporter

Image source, Getty Images

As I waited to do the post-match TV interviews in the Carrow Road tunnel on Saturday, the song "Ain't No Stopping Us Now" started booming out of the Norwich City changing room.

As I stuck my head out of the interview room to see what was going on, sporting director Ben Knapper walked past me with a grin like the Cheshire Cat on his face.

The unbridled glee was utterly understandable.

After all, Norwich were now in the fifth round of the FA Cup and their impressive run of results shows no signs of slowing.

Despite missing key players like Jovon Makama through injury, they have found squad depth, displayed by the likes of World Cup-tipped Socceroo Mohamed Touré, who has scored five goals in three games.

And the consensus in the terrace tea bars is Anis Ben Slimane is a completely different player under Philippe Clement than he was before.

There are more examples you can add to that list of amazing changes that have propelled this club from the pits of doom to joy in under three months.

On 8 November, over 250 Norwich fans gathered outside Carrow Road screaming "sack the board, sack Ben Knapper, sack Liam Manning."

On Saturday, tens of thousands of Norwich fans stayed inside the ground cheering their hearts out. No-one was taking about sacking anyone.

Football is a rollercoaster of emotions, for sure, and I have seen highs and lows like this before.

But in my three decades of reporting on the sport I can honestly say I have never seen such a quick turnaround in intensity of polarised emotions.

Norwich have got their mojo back.

Image source, Getty Images

The 2025-26 FA Cup fifth-round draw will take place on Monday, 16 February at about 18:35 GMT.

It will be done before the fourth-round tie between Macclesfield Town - the lowest-ranked team left in the competition - and Brentford, with former England internationals Joe Cole and Karen Carney conducting the draw on TNT Sports.

Supporters can also follow the draw on the BBC Sport website and app.

All matches will be played around the weekend commencing Saturday, 7 March.

Unlike in previous years, there are no replays if matches end as a draw. All ties will go to extra time, and if necessary, a penalty shootout.

What are the ball numbers?

1. Liverpool

2. Fulham

3. Sunderland

4. Southampton

5. Wrexham

6. Arsenal

7. Chelsea

8. West Ham United

9. Mansfield Town

10. Norwich City

11. Port Vale or Bristol City

12. Wolverhampton Wanderers

13. Newcastle United

14. Manchester City

15. Macclesfield or Brentford

16. Leeds United

Image source, Getty Images

Norwich City head coach Philippe Clement told crowd-pleasing Paris Maghoma and Ali Ahmed at half time to cut out the party tricks as his side beat West Bromwich Albion in the FA Cup.

The Carrow Road crowd were delighted with Maghoma's goalscoring full debut but Clement said, speaking to BBC Radio Norfolk: "I told him and Ali [Ahmed] at half time that I don't want a circus, I want an efficient team that kills off games. I am really pleased to see him score with the head.

"We deserved to win it. In the first half we were totally dominant, and scored one good goal, but it should have been two or three. In the second half we were also dominating but when a few players got a little bit tired West Brom came into the game.

"They scored a goal from a transition, not that they were outplaying us or creating chances, and then it's important to stay calm and continue doing what we've been doing. That's the big step the team has made - a few months ago they would have become nervous, and so would the stands, but nobody felt we would lose this game, not on the pitch and not in the stands.

"We could kick on by bringing on fresh players who have played a lot in the last couple of months and have rhythm."

There are seven ties in the FA Cup fourth round on Saturday, and BBC Sport will bring you every moment.

• Burton v West Ham (12:15) - BBC Radio 5 Live & BBC Radio Derby

• Burnley v Mansfield - BBC Radio Lancashire & BBC Radio Nottingham

• Man City v Salford - BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 3 & BBC Radio Manchester

• Norwich v West Brom - BBC Radio Norfolk & BBC Radio WM

• Port Vale P-P Bristol City

• Southampton v Leicester- BBC Radio Solent & BBC Radio Leicester

• Aston Villa v Newcastle (17:45) - BBC iPlayer, BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra (with second half on BBC Radio 5 Live), BBC Radio WM & BBC Radio Newcastle

• Liverpool v Brighton (20:00) - BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Radio Merseyside & BBC Radio Sussex

Kick-offs 15:00 GMT unless stated

Follow all of the action and reaction here

You can also listen to today's 5 Live commentaries on most smart speakers. Just say "ask BBC Sounds to play Burton v West Ham" of "ask BBC Sounds to play Liverpool v Brighton", for instance.

Find out more about how to listen to football on BBC Sounds

How to follow the FA Cup fourth round on the BBC

Norwich City face West Bromwich Albion in an FA Cup fourth-round tie at Carrow Road on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

Ahead of the game, head coach Philippe Clement has been speaking to the media. Here are some of the key points:

• Goalkeeper Vladan Kovacevic is back in full training after missing the win over Oxford on Tuesday with a quad injury - a decision on his involvement in the tie will be made on Friday afternoon.

• Top scorer Jovon Makama had foot surgery this week - Clement said everything went well.

• Clement said the surgeon who operated on Makama is someone he knows, the son of an ex-president from his former team Club Brugge in Belgium.

• Midfielder Amankwah Forson is also back in full training following injury; he last played for the Canaries in December.

• On-loan midfielder Sam Field is available to play in the FA Cup for the Canaries.

• Clement says there is no change in the Josh Sargent situation; the striker refused to play in the FA Cup third-round tie against Walsall and has been absent since then.

You can listen to full live commentary of Norwich v West Brom online with BBC Sounds here.

Image source, Opta

Norwich welcome Championship rivals West Bromwich Albion to Carrow Road in the FA Cup fourth round on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

Philippe Clement's Canaries have climbed to 16th, three places above the Baggies, by virtue of six wins in their past seven games in all competitions.

Five-time winners Albion are winless in eight - which included a 5-0 home loss to Norwich on 20 January - though have kept back-to-back clean sheets for the first time under Eric Ramsay.

• Norwich City have lost three of their four FA Cup ties against West Brom, winning the other 2-1 at the Hawthorns in the fourth round in 2011/12.

• West Brom have already beaten Norwich at Carrow Road in the Championship this season. The Baggies last won two away games against an opponent in a season in 2007/08, winning twice away at both Coventry and Peterborough.

• Norwich won 5-1 against Walsall at Carrow Road in this season's FA Cup third round but the Canaries haven't won consecutive home games in the competition since January 2003.

• West Bromwich Albion are looking to reach the FA Cup fifth round for the first time since 2019/20 – they've lost their past two ties at this stage, 3-0 against Bristol City in 2022/23 and 2-0 against Wolves in 2023/24.

• Norwich will be without the injured Jovon Makama, who netted a hat-trick for the Canaries in the third round against Walsall and has scored in each of his past four FA Cup appearances, scoring six goals – no player in the last two seasons has scored more than Makama's six.

Image source, EFL

Championship leaders Middlesbrough are celebrating winning both the manager and player of the month awards for January.

Boss Kim Hellberg led Boro to five wins from their six league games last month, with them scoring 14 goals as they chased down the leaders Coventry City before overtaking them at the top of the table last weekend.

Midfielder Alan Browne won the player award, having also filled in at wing-back and scored three goals.

Philippe Clement of Norwich, Wrexham's Phil Parkinson and Derby head coach John Eustace were also nominated for the manager accolade.

Wrexham striker Sam Smith and defenders Charlie Hughes (Hull City) and Caleb Taylor (Millwall) missed out of the player award.

Middlesbrough visit second-placed Coventry in the Championship on Monday night (20:00 GMT).

Image source, Getty Images

The nominees for January's Championship Manager of the Month award have been announced.

Philippe Clement guided Norwich to four wins from six games last month to pull clear of the relegation zone, winning on the road at QPR, Wrexham and West Brom and toppling then-leaders Coventry at Carrow Road.

John Eustace also picked up 12 points with Derby, starting the year with a home win over Middlesbrough and collecting three away wins, culminating in a 5-0 thumping of Bristol City.

Kim Hellberg's Middlesbrough earned five wins from their six fixtures, scoring 14 goals, with 4-0 home wins over Preston and Southampton and a 1-0 success against in-form Norwich to round off the month.

Phil Parkinson led Wrexham to 13 points from their six games to move into the play-off places, their four wins included a 2-1 success at Derby and a dramatic 3-2 victory at QPR.

The winner will be announced on Friday.

Image source, Getty Images

Norwich City top scorer Jovon Makama could miss the rest of the season because of a foot injury, head coach Philippe Clement has confirmed.

Makama has scored 13 goals in 31 appearances for the Canaries but limped off in the second half against Blackburn Rovers last weekend, a game which team-mate Papa Amadou Diallo missed after being injured in the warm-up.

"Jov broke a bone in his foot so he will be out probably until the end of the season, or just in the last games that he will be back," Clement told BBC Radio Norfolk following Tuesday's 3-0 win at Oxford United.

"Papa has a muscle injury in his thigh. He will have a consultation with a specialist but it will be longer term also.

"Those are the disappointing things and also the things I want to improve for the future because we have missed too many players."

There was also a worry about goalkeeper Vladan Kovacevic, who missed the Oxford game, allowing Dan Grimshaw to make his first league appearance of the season.

"In training Vlad felt his quad a bit after a long kick so you cannot take a risk and put him on the field. He had a scan and there is nothing bad, so it will be a short-term thing. That can happen and Grimmy played a really good game," Clement added.

Earlier this week, the Belgian confirmed winger Matej Jurasek will be out for nine or 10 weeks with a bone injury.

Image source, Getty Images

Norwich City boss Philippe Clement said that new striker Mohamed Toure is "learning fast" but still has "several things to improve" in his game.

The forward has now scored four goals in his first two games for the Canaries since joining this month and scored a hat-trick on Tuesday as Norwich beat Oxford by three at the Kassam.

Toure's first goal came in the opening minute of the game and Clement felt that was important in how the rest of the match played out.

"I asked to start hard because Oxford are a very good defensive team, Clement told BBC Radio Norfolk.

"We wanted to start like this and it's the perfect scenario to score after one minute but it was crucial for us in the game.

"Mo (Mohamed Toure) is still a young lad with a lot of potential and several things to improve but he is learning fast.

"This week we showed him several images of Haaland and how he creates space for himself as well as Lukaku and how he uses his body.

"It's important to have a striker who can find the spaces in behind and is lethal in front of goal, the football we have played the last couple of weeks means that whoever plays there will have a nice time because all the things around them are much better than a few months ago."

Norwich City head coach Philippe Clement has been speaking to the media before the Canaries' Championship trip to Oxford United on Tuesday night (19:45 GMT).

Here are some of the key points:

• Striker Jovon Makama and winger Papa Amadou Diallo both limped out of Saturday's win over Blackburn Rovers but Clement refused to be drawn on the severity of the injuries

• The head coach said he will say more about the injuries after Tuesday's visit to Oxford and both players have not been ruled out of appearing in the game at the Kassam Stadium

• Winger Matej Jurasek has a bone injury and will miss nine to 10 weeks

• "We are much more solid than we were a while ago," said Clement. The Belgian is happy with the upturn in City's fortunes since he took over

• On full-back Ben Chrisene, Clement says he wants to push the boundaries of what he can achieve after a run of starting games

• On Oxford: "It will be a tough challenge, but we cherish every challenge."

You can listen to full live commentary of Oxford United v Norwich City with BBC Radio Norfolk on FM and DAB. Coverage begins at 19:00 GMT on Tuesday.

Relegation-battling Oxford United will hope to boost their Championship survival hopes when they welcome a much-improved Norwich City on Tuesday night (kick-off 19:45 GMT).

The U's are 23rd and four points from safety following a run of just one win in their past eight games (D3 L4), though Matt Bloomfield's side did pick up a battling point at leaders Coventry last time out.

The Canaries have won eight of their 15 games since Philippe Clement was appointed (D3 L5), including four of the past five, to climb from second bottom and five points adrift of safety up to 17th - four points clear of the drop zone.

• Oxford United have lost only one of their past six league meetings with Norwich City (W3 D2) and are unbeaten against the Canaries this century (P3 W1 D2).

• Norwich City have alternated between winning and losing across their previous eight trips to face Oxford United in the Football League, losing 2-0 in this fixture last season.

• Oxford United have failed to score in each of their past four home league games (D2 L2), the joint-longest run of their Football League history (also September 1978, May 1990 and February 1995).

• Norwich City have won three of their four Championship away games so far in 2026 (L1), only one fewer victory than the Canaries managed on the road across 23 matches in 2025 (W4 D8 L11).

• No team have played more midweek games (Tue/Wed/Thu) without winning in the top four tiers of English football this season than Oxford United (P8 D4 L4), who are winless in 12 overall in midweek (D5 L7) since a 3-2 home win against Luton Town in January 2025.