Norwich City

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Norwich boss Philippe Clement has been left sweating on the injuries to top scorer Jovon Makama and Papa Diallo after the Canaries' 2-0 win over Blackburn at Carrow Road.

Diallo was injured in the warm-up, while Makama was forced off with a knock in the second half and Clement says he does not yet know the extent of their problems.

Clement told BBC Radio Norfolk: "Papa could not start the game, so that doesn't look good and also for Jovon. That was a really unlucky one, stepping on somebody's arm or hand in a duel and then twisting his leg. So let's see the next couple of days and I can only hope and pray."

Clement was delighted with the win which lifted Norwich four points above the relegation zone and he said: "All credit for the hard work and organisation of Blackburn today, they did everything to stop us.

"Also in December, they had a zero-zero at Middlesbrough so it's not a surprise to us that they could defend like they did. But in the end, we were the team who were dominant today. Although the start of the game was, for me, not good enough, but we dominated the game and we deserve to win.

"We had the most chances. We almost didn't concede any chances in this game. So that's a real positive."

Phil Daley
Sports Editor, BBC Norfolk

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Norwich City head coach Philippe Clement has spoken to the media before their Championship match with Blackburn on Saturday (12:31 GMT).

Here are some of the key points:

• New signing Mohamed Toure has "power and speed", says Clement. The Belgian sees the Australia striker more as a finisher than someone who creates assists. He could be in line for "minutes" soon, but some way off starting.

• Clement says the bar was set very high before the transfer window and they "came close to signing another striker who was scoring goals against teams most people weren't expecting his team to beat". Without mentioning the player's name, it sounds like Kasper Hogh from Bodo/Glimt was very close to joining.

• On Sam Field: "He is a well-known Championship player with lots of experience and ticks lots of boxes for the club."

• The situation with Josh Sargent remains the same. Clement repeats that he will tell the media and fans as soon as anything changes.

• Harry Amass has started treatment for his injury and there is a chance he will be able to come back towards the end of the season.

• Matej Jurasek has a issue with his foot and will be out for "a period of time".

• On Blackburn Rovers: "It would be the biggest mistake if we all think we can just do the same as we did against Coventry and get a win. We need to raise our levels and be hungry. Good teams do it every time."

• On former Norwich midfielder Todd Cantwell: "Todd is a lovely lad, he is also someone with a lot of talent who can make the difference in a game. I'm sure he will be motivated to do that at Carrow Road."

You can listen to full live commentary of Norwich City v Blackburn with BBC Radio Norfolk on FM and DAB and online from 12:00 GMT on Saturday.

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Norwich will seek to resume their climb away from the Championship relegation zone as they welcome fellow-strugglers Blackburn to Carrow Road on Saturday (12:31 GMT).

The Canaries are 18th, one point and three places above managerless Rovers, who climbed out of the bottom three courtesy of a 1-0 win over basement-boys Sheffield Wednesday on Tuesday.

The Canaries saw a run of three straight league wins ended by a battling 1-0 defeat at Middlesbrough on Saturday but got back to winning ways at home with a 2-1 victory over Coventry last time out.

Rovers parted company with Valerien Ismael on Monday but picked up their first victory in nine league games against the Owls, though they are winless in six on their travels since a 2-1 win at Preston in November.

• Following their 2-0 win in August, Norwich are looking to complete the league double over Blackburn for the first time since 2018/19.

• Six of Blackburn's past 10 away league games against Norwich have finished in draws (W2 L2), with both teams scoring in nine of those 10 meetings.

• Norwich have won five of their past eight league games (L3), more than they had in their first 22 this season (W4 D6 L12).

• Blackburn are winless in their past six away league games (D3 L3), having won five of their first eight on the road this term (L3).

• At 22 Norwich's Jovon Makama is the youngest player to score 10 goals in the Championship this season.

Chris Goreham
BBC Radio Norfolk's Norwich City commentator

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January has been a good month for Norwich City. They've hauled themselves out of the Championship relegation zone and have looked resurgent under Philippe Clement.

Of their five new signings, Ali Ahmed has already made a difference. The Canadian international winger has scored two goals and picked up two assists in his opening four appearances for the club.

A serious hamstring injury suffered in training means it'll be some time before Harry Amass builds on the 15 minutes he's played for City so far. The 18-year-old left-back was brought in on loan from Manchester United but instead of helping to solve an injury crisis in that position, he has unfortunately added to it.

There was also a late pivot to secure the Championship know-how of Sam Field on loan from QPR, with Pelle Mattsson having picked up an injury late in the window.

One of the stand-out comments of Liam Manning's ill-fated spell as City manager was when he said he felt he had some talented individuals but now needed to turn it into a team. It's far more straightforward to tell where this month's arrivals will fit into a Clement system that is looking increasingly well-oiled as the weeks go on.

Paris Maghoma has come in from Brentford as an option in the number 10 role while Mohamed Toure, an Australia international striker, is an intriguing prospect for the centre-forward position.

Which leads us neatly on to Josh Sargent and what might happen next for him.

The Championship comes at you fast. At the start of January most Norwich City fans would have said that keeping the American international was imperative to their chances of seeing off the looming threat of relegation to League One.

He is still a Canaries player but he's not actually playing. Cast aside by Clement after texting his manager to say he wouldn't be available to play against Walsall in the FA Cup means it's a long way back.

Sargent's heart seems set on a move to MLS - Toronto want him but have so far failed to meet City's asking price. He does, after all, still have two and a half years on his current deal.

Contracts exist to ensure a club either has the player in the team or the market value to reinvest in the squad. As it stands, Norwich don't have either so something will have to give. The MLS window is open until March and unless Sargent is prepared to eat humble pie, his main hope is that Toronto up their bid.

It speaks volumes for Clement's impact at Carrow Road that praise for his handling of the situation now far outweighs any concern about losing Sargent.

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Boston United have extended the loan stay of Norwich City forward Ken Aboh until the end of the season.

The 21-year-old has featured 15 times and scored once for the National League side since initially signing for the Pilgrims in November.

Aboh spent time on loan with Stevenage and Colchester in the English Football League last season.

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Today is the final chance of the season for your Championship team to do transfer business.

The window closes at 19:00 GMT, meaning teams - and fans - can avoid the usual late-night transfer scramble.

It has already been a busy window - for some teams anyway - but whether it turns out to be a day of transfer action or a pretty quiet one for your club, you will be able to keep across it all on BBC Sport.

Follow our live text coverage throughout the day here

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Norwich boss Philippe Clement has revealed on-loan full-back Harry Amass faces a lengthy lay-off after being injured in training.

The 18-year-old, signed from Manchester United, missed Saturday's defeat at Middlesbrough and Clement confirmed afterwards that he was hurt in their final training session. for the game.

Amass, who spent the first half of the season on loan at Sheffield Wednesday, has only played 15 minutes for Norwich as a substitute in Monday's win over Coventry.

Clement did not specify the nature of the injury but said Norwich will liaise with United about his recovery and rehab.

The Belgian told BBC Radio Norfolk: "Harry, in the dying seconds of training, got an injury. I didn't want to speak too much about it straight after training because there was no assessment yet about it.

"But it looks to be serious and that he will be out for a long time.

"He's on loan from Man U so it's also important to speak with them first before speaking to the outside world."

Clement ruled out signing another left-back in this transfer window and said his squad can cope.

"No, we're not going to take in another left full-back, so we will solve it with the squad that's here because we already have four left full-backs on the pay roll," he added.

Norwich City will look to make it four league wins in a row when they head to Middlesbrough in the Championship on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

Head coach Philippe Clement has been speaking to the media before the game. Here are some of the key points:

• Midfielder Pelle Mattsson will be out for "a while" with an ankle injury after coming off at half-time during Monday's 2-1 win over Coventry. When asked about a specific timescale, Clement added: "Several weeks."

• Clement says it may alter City's transfer plans with Monday's deadline looming.

• Midfielder Amankwah Forson will be in full training next week as he returns from injury.

• New signing Paris Maghoma will not be involved against Middlesbrough. Clement said he is still getting up to speed with his match fitness.

• "Everyone in the club is working really hard day and night to get what we want," Clement said, hinting there could be more business done for the Canaries in the coming days.

You can listen to full live coverage of City's trip to Boro with BBC Radio Norfolk on FM and DAB. Coverage begins at 14:00 on Saturday.

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Middlesbrough will look to keep their promotion bid on track when they welcome much-improved Norwich City on Saturday (kick-off 15:00 GMT).

Boro - who are second and five points clear of Ipswich in third - have bounced back from a four-game winless run with four straight victories for the second time under Kim Hellberg, having also won his first four games in charge.

The Canaries are now 18th and four points clear of the drop zone after three straight wins and have picked up 24 points in 14 games under Philippe Clement, compared to just nine in the 15 matches before he took over as boss.

• Middlesbrough are unbeaten in their past eight league meetings with Norwich (W5 D3), after losing five straight against them prior to this current run (between September 2017 and November 2020).

• Norwich's most recent Championship away win against Middlesbrough in 2021-22, under Daniel Farke (1-0). Since then, the Canaries are winless in three away trips to face Boro (D1 L2), conceding eight goals and only scoring twice.

• Middlesbrough are looking to win five consecutive Championship matches for the first time since October 2023, in what was a six-game streak under Michael Carrick.

• Middlesbrough's Morgan Whittaker has been directly involved in 10 goals in 12 Championship appearances under Kim Hellberg (7 goals, 3 assists); more than any other player in the division since Hellberg took charge last November.

• Anis Ben Slimane has scored in each of his past three Championship appearances for Norwich, and now has more goals in five league games this term (3) than he managed in 33 outings for the Canaries last season (2).

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Norwich City have submitted a bid worth 8m euros (£7m) including add-ons for Bodo/Glimt striker Kasper Hogh. Celtic are also interested in the 25-year-old who scored in the Norwegian side's 2-1 Champions League win at Atletico Madrid on Wednesday night to qualify for the play-off round. (Fabrizio Romano), external

For more transfer news and rumours, read Thursday's full gossip column here.

The upturn in Norwich's fortunes can be attributed to Phillipe Clement instilling discipline in the dressing room, says EFL pundit Lyle Taylor.

In the latest edition of the BBC's 72+ EFL podcast Taylor said the Belgian's strength has got the players to buy in and that's the reason why they are climbing the table after a nightmare start to the Championship campaign under former boss Liam Manning.

"The most important thing in the dressing room is instilling discipline," Taylor said.

"If you've got a manager who leads from the very front and is strong about what he wants to do and how he wants to do it, it doesn't leave room for any flip-flopping from players.

"You either put up and shut up or you see yourself out the door."

He added: "The best thing they could have possibly had is a manager coming in and reading the riot act. It makes it very clear for everyone.

"What he's doing is obviously working and he obviously has enough of the players onside so what he's doing can work.

"It seems those players are willing, it just maybe takes a different voice they haven't heard before."

Celtic are set to rival Norwich City in a move for 25-year-old Bodo/Glimt forward Kasper Hogh, who could leave the Norwegian side after Wednesday's Champions League game against Atletico Madrid. (Anthony Joseph, Sky Sports), external

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