Looking to make it six-straight wins at their Carrow Road base, top-six hopefuls Norwich City will host League One-bound Rotherham United on Saturday afternoon in the Championship.
The Canaries suffered a disappointing defeat at Middlesbrough last time out, whilst the Millers endured an embarrassing evening in the East Midlands against Coventry City.
Match preview
© Reuters
Aiming to extend their unbeaten run in the Championship to seven matches, Norwich looked on for another productive match on Wednesday night when Ashley Barnes fired the visitors into an early lead at the Riverside Stadium, but a 30th-minute dismissal altered the course of the contest.
After being sent off in the first half of the defeat at West Bromwich Albion on Boxing Day, Canaries winger Borja Sainz repeated the unwanted trick on Teesside following a tangle with Boro midfielder Jonny Howson, helping Michael Carrick's men to go on and score three unanswered goals through Marcus Forss, Emmanuel Latte Lath and Lukas Engel.
Head coach David Wagner was keen to move swiftly past Wednesday's showing at the Riverside during his post-match press conference, with the East Anglians still possessing a good chance of reaching the playoffs this season, as Norwich are only two points behind Liam Rosenior's Hull City in sixth.
As alluded to earlier, the Canaries have enjoyed five-straight victories at Carrow Road dating back to the win over Carlos Corberan's Baggies on January 20, with only Albion, league leaders Leicester City, Ipswich Town and Leeds United collecting more home points than Wagner's charges in the Championship this season.
Despite not featuring since February 10 due to a hamstring injury, academy graduate Jon Rowe currently leads Norwich's Golden Boot with 12 second-tier goals, but United States international Joshua Sargent is only a single strike behind the 20-year-old as the campaign enters its crucial stages.
© Reuters
Rotherham's sorry Championship campaign hit another sobering low on Tuesday night in the East Midlands, where the Millers were four goals behind after a disastrous 37 minutes against Coventry, with Ellis Simms bagging a hat-trick and Joel Latibeaudiere netting from centre-back.
Thankfully for the confidence-sapped visitors, Mark Robins's Sky Blues took their foot off the gas in the second period to spare Leam Richardson's side of a record-breaking loss, but the hosts managed to score their fifth of the evening courtesy of Fabio Tavares in added-on time.
Having failed to earn a victory from their last 31 away matches, a loyal contingent of Rotherham supporters will travel to Carrow Road on Saturday afternoon in hope more than expectation, with the Millers collecting just four points away from the AESSEAL New York Stadium this season.
Brought in to replace Matthew Taylor during December with Rotherham eight points adrift of safety, ex-Wigan Athletic boss Richardson has won just one of his 16 second-tier contests in charge, meaning that Saturday's visitors are rock bottom of the league standings, 18 points behind 21st-placed Huddersfield Town.
Despite filling in at centre-back in recent months due to a raft of absentees in defence, midfielder Hakeem Odoffin is the Millers' leading marksman in the Championship with a mere four strikes, as the likes of Jordan Hugill and Sam Nombe have failed to consistently find the net at this level.
Team News
© Reuters
A difficult night at Middlesbrough in the week was made worse for Norwich as defender Grant Hanley limped off with an Achilles injury in the second half - the same issue that kept him sidelined for eight months over the past year.
With the Teesside test getting away from the Canaries, Wagner opted to substitute midfielder Kenny McLean as a precaution on Wednesday night, meaning that he should be able to join Gabriel Sara in the engine room from the start on Saturday.
Spaniard Sainz will miss the next four Championship matches if Norwich's appeal over the attacker's red card is dismissed, with Saturday's hosts already low on winger options due to the broken foot of Onel Hernandez.
Rotherham remain without the services of centre-back Sean Morrison, who suffered a calf injury in training last week, subsequently missing the Sheffield Wednesday and Coventry defeats.
The Millers will be able to bring Seb Revan back into the XI for the first time since a hip injury, which saw the youngster return to parent club Aston Villa for a portion of his rehabilitation.
Richardson's side has been robbed of its Championship expertise by a raft of fitness issues this season, with both Daniel Ayala (Achilles) and Grant Hall (hip) occupying places in the medical room.
Norwich City possible starting lineup:
Gunn; Stacey, Sorensen, Gibson, Giannoulis; Sara, McLean, Fassnacht, Barnes, Nunez; Sargent
Rotherham United possible starting lineup:
Johansson; Kioso, Humphreys, Odoffin; Tiehi, Rinomhota, Lindsay, Cafu, Revan; Appiah, Hugill
We say: Norwich City 3-0 Rotherham United
After playing the majority of the defeat at Middlesbrough with a numerical disadvantage, an 11-man Norwich will be raring to return to winning ways against the division's poorest outfit.
Rotherham face another dreaded away trip following Tuesday night's hammering at Coventry, and we are fully expecting a ninth-straight loss for the Millers.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
