A huge game in the Sky Bet Championship sees 5th placed Norwich City host 2nd placed Derby County.

A win for either side would be a huge boost to their resective promotion hopes, and as it is so tight at the top of the championship, either team could go top with a win should results go their way.

Norwich have won seven of their last eight matches in Championship and go in to the game in fine form after beating Millwall 4-1 last weekend.

Derby, meanwhile, will be bitterly disappointed after conceding two goals in added time to draw 2-2 with Birmingham City last Saturday. 

That result for Derby means they are winless in three and have conceded at least 2 goals in their last 4 away matches in Championship. They will have to tighten up in defence if they are to come away from Carrow Road with a good result.

County boss Steve Mclaren will be hoping for a reaction from his players, and hopefully get his sides' title hopes back on track. Should Bournemouth fail to beat Blackpool, and County win, it will see Mclaren's team go top of the Championship. It is very tight at the top end of the table with the top four teams all on 66 points adn Norwich fifth on 65. 

Mclaren feels this week could be defining in the clubs season, saying: “It’s a tough week for us and we always knew that it would be. I’m not saying that it will decide things because there will be seven games to play after this week is over and done with. We are in with a shout with ten games to go and the next target is to be in a similar position with five to play."

The former England manager went on to add: “Three matches in a week takes it down very quickly to be honest. We have to dig in with these three games and come out with performances and points to maintain the challenge. At the end of the three games, we want to be there or thereabouts and have everyone fit and be ready to go after the international break.”

Canaries defender Steven Whittaker is relishing the exciting finish to the season. Talking to the official club website, he said: "There are a lot of teams fighting it out for automatic promotion but we're right in the mix and three points would hopefully get us on our way. We've managed to get ourselves on a great run so we'll go into the last stages of the season with great confidence. Each game from now is massive, especially when you can see it counting down so that you can almost touch it." 

In team news, Norwich midfielder Alex Tettey returns after missing the last two matches through suspension. Defender Sebastien Bassong (knee) is out but midfielder Gary O'Neil (foot) should feature.

Rams midfielder George Thorne (thigh) is poised to return but their leading scorer Chris Martin (hamstring) is a doubt. Striker Darren Bent (hamstring) and midfielder John Eustace (knee) remain out injured.

Possible line-ups:

Norwich City: Ruddy, Martin, Whittaker, Bassong, Olsson, Johnson, Dorrans, Redmond, Hoolahan, Howson, Jerome

Derby County: Grant, Christie, Buxton, Keogh, Forsyth, Hendrick, Thorne, Hughes, Ince, Lingard, Ward