Since becoming a part of Read Norwich, I’ve developed somewhat of a reputation for being what some fans might class as ‘blindly optimistic’ amongst other things – however; if anyone had told me seven games ago that we’d be in the top six going into the Watford game with a real chance of overtaking Ipswich in the table a week after even I’d have struggled to agree with them. As it stands though, this is very much the tangible reality and a win on Saturday would leave the Canaries with four back to back wins.
Our last outing against Wolves was, I would argue, our most controlled, professional and dominant performance of the season thus far; and one from which we should be looking to emulate near every characteristic against the Hornets. The team setup was nigh on perfect, Ruddy seems to have clawed back a bit of his lost confidence from earlier in the campaign and, despite being far and away his harshest critic, even I must concede Whittaker’s been solid in recent games – still not enough to counteract his previous contributions (or lack thereof) but as I say, solid. The introduction of Bassong to the backline has been a revelation and I am going to bask in the glory for a moment or so as I’ve been singing his praises when no one else would for seasons now *pauses typing to bask*. He even seems to have shored up those around him in Martin and Olsson, both of whom have seemed far more confident and protected in our last few clashes – and really the defence has been the weak link for us so far this season, going further up the pitch we’ve been consistent and now the backline is at least showing signs of becoming a wall things are looking up.
Heading into this match our injury list is still pretty bare, with Ryan Bennett, Gary O’Neil and Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe being the only noticeable absentees. This is offset however with the arrival of Graham Dorrans on loan from West Brom to bolster the middle of our park. It’ll be interesting to see how Alex Neil incorporates the Scotsman into the side (if at all) against Watford with the trio of Tettey, Johnson and Howson surely unalterable at this juncture and Andreu and Hoolahan already staking a claim to a place on the bench. Regardless, I doubt the starting XI will differ too much from recent weeks, but here’s what I’d opt for:
Preferred line up:
As I say, I don’t expect a huge number of changes for this match. With that said, Whittaker’s playing well and so I’ve included him on this occasion – don’t let me down Steven… Aside from that, I’d choose Grabban ahead of Jerome as the second striker as I feel he’s been showing great signs of improvement in recent games – playing possibly his best game in Norwich shirt against Wolves.
Verdict:
All in all, this game is arguably a tougher fixture than any of our last five but I’m confident regardless. Watford sit three points and one place above us in the table so without any speculation I’m going to go for 2-1 to the Yellows.
