Norwich V Tottenham Hotspur at Carrow Road : Match Preview

01 February 2016 18:34
Norwich V Tottenham Hotspur - view commentary, squad, and statistics of the game live.


Patrick Bamford set for Norwich debut against Tottenham

Norwich could hand a debut to Patrick Bamford against Tottenham on Tuesday night - with manager Alex Neil claiming the Canaries have clinched a player worth an eight-figure sum.

The 22-year-old has moved to Carrow Road on loan from Chelsea until the end of the season on the back of an unsuccessful first half of the campaign at Crystal Palace.

Bamford made just nine appearances at Palace and did not start a single Barclays Premier League game for the club before his loan move to south London was cut short.

Having impressed Neil when coming up against his side while on loan at Middlesbrough last year, the Norwich boss is delighted to have him in his ranks.

"Obviously he did extremely well last season and won Championship Player of the Year," he said of Bamford.

"If we had tried to recruit him in the summer you would have been talking double figures, B#10million plus.

"The fact we can get that calibre player in on a loan deal between now and the end of the season will hopefully increase our fire-power and give us a bit more competition."

Fellow new recruit Timm Klose will also be pushing to make his bow after the defender was an unused substitute in the recent 5-4 defeat to Liverpool.

"He is in a much better position now," Neil said.

"You have got to bear in mind he hadn't played for a few weeks due to the mid-season break in Germany. We needed to get him up to speed and he is in a much better position now.

"I like to think people come into training and see it (the addition of players) as a challenge - the existing players will need to up their game and hopefully it inspires everyone."

Mauricio Pochettino has confidence his Tottenham squad have the depth to carry the momentum from their four-match winning run.

"Our mentality is good," Pochettino said.

"We are ready to compete Tuesday and Saturday (against Watford), again. The spirit in the squad is fantastic. We need to keep the momentum and try to win the next game.

"I believe in my players and the squad we have to fight in every game."

The Canaries have had more than a week to mull over their last-gasp loss to Liverpool and iron out their defensive deficiencies.

But Pochettino is confident his side, 4-1 winners at Colchester in the FA Cup on Saturday, are capable of extending their impressive away run.

"We know Norwich is a team that had 10 days to prepare for our game," Pochettino added.

"But our mentality is good, we are strong and we need to compete.

"We arrive in a very good condition to compete on Tuesday."

Pochettino will not take Norwich for granted, despite the Canaries' capitulation against Liverpool.

"Crazy game," he said.

"In football this type of game can happen sometimes. For that, football is very attractive. It is difficult to analyse as in football to score you need to make a mistake.

"(But) we analysed the last few games from Norwich and they are very difficult to play."

England midfielder Dele Alli is expected to return to the starting XI, alongside the likes of Hugo Lloris and Toby Alderweireld.

Jan Vertonghen (knee) and Ryan Mason (ankle) remain out.




Source: PAR