McKenna: It's Going to Be Tough, But the Opportunity is There For Us
Thursday, 9th Apr 2026 20:29
Town visit Norwich City early on Saturday afternoon targeting their first victory at Carrow Road in 20 years, their first double over the Canaries since 1992/93 and, beyond local rivalries, three points in their push for promotion back to the Premier League.
The Blues go into the match second in the Championship ahead of Middlesbrough and Millwall in third and fourth on goal difference but with two games in hand on their promotion rivals. Leaders Coventry appear to be all but home and hosed with the Sky Blues 12 points ahead of the three teams below them.
Kieran McKenna is going into his fourth derby as Town manager having won one, 3-1 at Portman Road in October to end the 16-year wait for a Blues victory, drawn one, 2-2 at home in December 2023, and lost one, 1-0 at Carrow Road two years ago, in the three up to now.
“I think it is one to really look forward to,” McKenna said. “The last one was my favourite, I think I would say that.
“I’ve had two that I enjoyed, even the first one at Portman Road was a really good occasion and good game.
“I didn’t enjoy the one at Carrow Road, so hopefully I will enjoy this one more. They have a great atmosphere with two fanbases that are really passionate about their club.
“We get a fantastic support at Portman Road and when we go there. We are delighted to have broken the record that stood for too long with the game earlier in the season and now we know we have got another fantastic opportunity to go and try and win at their stadium, which will be tough but would be brilliant for the club. We are all really motivated to try and do that on Saturday.”
Reflecting on the prospect of recording the first double over the Canaries since the inaugural Premier League season when the Blues won 2-0 at Carrow Road, then 3-1 at Portman Road, McKenna said: “It’s a long time certainly since the club did both in a season. We know it’s going to be really, really tough.
“They are a good team in good form and always going away to your fiercest rivals is going to be really tough.
“We don’t take it lightly, but we believe the opportunity is there for us and we are really motivated to do it. Let’s see what we can do on Saturday.
“I think you do need to make the players aware of [the atmosphere]. When you are preparing for any game, you try and give context to it and make sure the players know, especially for away games, what the crowd might be like, what the stadium is like, what the pitch might be like, what the context of the other team is.
“We have made the players really aware. We think there are some similarities to two years ago when we went there in the season when we were pushing for automatic promotion. We know they are going to be incredibly motivated to try and stop us, in terms of getting the points on Saturday.
“It was a really fierce atmosphere when we played there last time and we have made the players aware that it is going to be that and more.
“But these things are something to really enjoy in your career, whether as a player or a coach or even supporters. You want these rivalries, you want these big games, you want the passionate crowds.
“And sometimes going away from home and standing up to that with the support behind you, I think if you get the result on those days, they are the best ones. We have an opportunity to do that on Saturday and that’s what we are really focused on doing.”
After a disastrous start to the season under former Blues academy midfielder and coach Liam Manning, which saw them drop to the bottom of the table, the Canaries have staged a major revival under Belgian boss Philippe Clement, who took charge in November.
From the beginning of December, they and Town have each recorded 45 points, more than anyone else in the division, although with the Blues having a better goal difference and having played a game fewer.
Norwich are ninth in the Championship with five matches left to play, eight points off the top six with the play-offs now looking out of reach.
The Norfolk side’s home form is the 19th best in the division, although that’s severely impacted by their start to the campaign which saw them lose their first eight at Carrow Road and then draw another prior to their first win.
From that initial victory, a 3-1 success against QPR at the end of November, the Canaries have won eight, drawn one and lost three on their own turf, picking up 25 points, the fourth-best home form over that period behind Town, 30, Coventry, 28, and Swansea, 27.
They have scored 18 goals in their last 12 home matches, eight teams having bagged more in that time, while conceding 10 with only four sides having let in fewer.
McKenna says that while Norwich’s form is unrecognisable, a lot about them remains much the same as in October.
“In some ways yes and in some ways no,” McKenna said. “It is clear the manager has gone in and done a really good job. They have picked up excellent results and over a good period of time.
“They have been one of the best teams in the division but they weren’t a very bad team at the start of the season. Liam didn’t get the results at the start of the season and didn’t get the momentum, but that can happen in this division.
“They lost lots of tight games by fine margins and in the end they didn’t start the season well enough and they made a change. But it’s not like they were a bad team at that point.
“Tactically, when you look at them, they are doing some things well but there are a lot of the same things we are seeing from when we played them earlier in the season. A lot of the same principles.
“They signed quite a few players in the summer, some of those players have had a lot more time to settle - the same as some of our players, to be honest.
“It means they are a little further down the line, they have more confidence and they have picked up some really good results.
“We know we are facing a really good side, but at no stage did I think they were a bad team. We had to work really hard and play really well to beat them, and certainly we will have to do the same and more this time.”
Asked which side he believes are under most pressure going into the match, Town, given their promotion ambitions, or the Canaries as they look to maintain their outside shot at the play-offs and their 20-year unbeaten derby record at Carrow Road, McKenna says that’s not a way in which he looks at the match.
“I don’t think of it like that,” he said. “I’m sure I can answer and say Norwich and Philippe could come up and say us. I could talk about when I signed here, we were in League One and Norwich were in the Premier League and where the last few seasons have been and the records.
“We have an opportunity to break a second record now, but they could flip it on the other side.
“I think this time of the season when you are going for something like we are, there is external pressure on every game. There is going to be big external pressure on Portsmouth on Tuesday night, Middlesbrough next weekend, that’s the way it is and it is something you have to enjoy.
“When you have a derby match, you know how much it would mean to your supporters even if we weren’t going for something in the league and we were in mid-table. We know how much it means to the supporters and you want to make them proud and that brings extra motivation to the game.
“I think our focus is on ourselves and our next game. You acknowledge and recognise the extra bit this game means to people but also we realise that within the context of our season, it’s another chance to win three points, which at this stage of the season is really important.
“To do that last weekend, this Saturday, Tuesday night, it’s about delivering the performance and that’s what we put our energy and focus into, not what the perception is of us or of them.
“We are looking forward to the game, it is a great fixture and I think we have an awful lot to gain.”
Asked if he has a message for supporters, he said: “I said last week, they certainly don’t need a gee-up message from me. I can only thank them for the support that they’ve given us, they’ve been there all season. There have been a lot of challenges along the way, but we deserve to be up there competing and this is now the next game to do it.
“We know how much this one means to them and we’re going to prepare and give everything we can to get a positive result for them.”
Elsewhere this weekend, Millwall are in action at West Brom on Friday night, while Middlesbrough host Portsmouth at 3pm on Saturday.
McKenna has said he will utilise his squad over the course of the run-in with Saturday’s match the second of eight in 27 days.
Christian Walton will be in goal with Darnell Furlong at right-back and skipper Dara O’Shea the right centre-half.
Leif Davis will return at left-back having served his controversial three-match ban, while McKenna has a decision to make alongside O’Shea. Jacob Greaves has started the last three, but Cedric Kipre played a key role in the Portman Road derby win, scoring the opening goal and adding a calming presence.
McKenna says Azor Matusiwa will be assessed on Friday having limped off against Birmingham with a dead leg and Town fans will hope the Dutchman is fit enough to start, probably alongside Dan Neil.
Otherwise, Neil will move to the deeper role with Jack Taylor likely to come back into the XI.
Kasey McAteer looks set to start on the right with Jack Clarke on the left with McKenna having a couple of options at number 10, both one-time Canaries.
Marcelino Nunez started against Birmingham having returned from his hamstring injury and McKenna will have to assess whether the Chilean is up to starting two games in six days having said he has no concerns about him facing his old club in front of what will be a hostile atmosphere. Anis Mehmeti, who had a spell with Norwich as a youngster, may well get the nod instead.
George Hirst looks set to start as the number nine with Ivan Azon being assessed on Friday having missed the Birmingham match with a calf problem.
Historically, the teams are very closely matched but with the Blues having the edge, winning 43 games (39 in the league), losing 42 (36) and drawing 23 (20).
In October, Town’s long wait for a derby victory finally came to an end as goals from Kipre, Philogene and Clarke saw the Blues beat Norwich 3-1 at Portman Road.
Kipre gave Town the lead in the 32nd minute with his first for the club, but Oscar Schwartau levelled for the Canaries three minutes later, only for Philogene to smash home one of the greatest ever East Anglian derby goals just before half-time.
The Blues had plenty of chances to seal their win after the break with Clarke finally bringing the 16-year wait for derby glory to an end when he netted the third 13 minutes from time.
The sides most recently met at Carrow Road in April 2024 when Nunez’s 39th-minute free-kick for the Canaries saw the promotion-bound but under-par Blues lose 1-0, the dramatic 3-2 home win against Southampton earlier in the week perhaps having had an impact on the performance.
Town haven’t won at Carrow Road for 10 games since February 2006 when the famous Hand of Haynes goal saw the Blues to victory, the 88th-minute winner forced in by a combination of Danny Haynes’s hand and Norwich defender Gary Doherty.
The home side had gone ahead in the first half through Jonatan Johansson but the ex-Addick deflected in a Jimmy Juan free-kick soon afterwards.
The highest margin of East Anglian derby victory is 5-0, the Blues having won by that scoreline in 1946 - the first league meeting between the teams - 1977 and 1998.
Town’s biggest defeat was the 5-1 home reverse in April 2011, while the highest-scoring match was the Blues’ 4-3 away win at Carrow Road in February 1968.
John Wark is the leading goalscorer in the derby having netted nine times, while Hugh Curran is Norwich’s top scorer having bagged five.
If Nunez were to score for Town, the Chilean would become the first player to net for both clubs in an East Anglian derby.
Town midfielder Nunez joined the Blues last summer for an initial £7.5 million in the summer after three years at Carrow Road in which he made 86 starts and 33 sub appearances, scoring 12 goals.
Blues January signing Mehmeti was with the Canaries’ academy between 2017 and 2019.
Canaries midfielder Liam Gibbs came through the academy ranks at Town before turning down a new contract and crossing the border in the summer of 2021, the clubs having agreed compensation.
Bury St Edmunds-born Gibbs, whose family are Town supporters, made one League One appearance for the Blues, in addition to two EFL Trophy starts and one sub appearance.
Blues assistant manager Martyn Pert is from Norwich and was a youth player with the Canaries. Similarly, Town’s head of athletic performance Matt Allen was a schoolboy with Norwich.
Women’s interim-manager David Wright had a period coaching with the Norwich academy before returning to Portman Road, having also had a spell on loan at Carrow Road as a player prior to his playing stint with Town.
A number of other members of the club’s academy and off-field staff, including academy head of recruitment Alex Kaufman, previously worked at Norwich.
Town academy stalwart and one-time player Bryan Klug joined the Canaries’ youth set-up as head of coach development in November having left Playford Road in the summer.
Saturday’s referee is Anthony Backhouse, his assistants Paul Hodskinson and Matthew Wilkes, and the fourth official Tom Nield.
Cumbria-based Backhouse has shown 109 yellow cards and no red in 24 games so far this season.
Backhouse’s last Town match was the 3-0 home victory over Swansea City in February in which he issued only one caution, to Mehmeti.
He was also in the middle for the 2-0 victory over leaders Coventry City at the CBS Arena in December in which he cautioned Furlong, Taylor and one home player.
Prior to that, back in April 2023, Backhouse was the man in charge at Pride Park as the Blues beat Derby 2-0 on their way to promotion from League One. He booked seven players that day, among them three from Town, Walton, Burns and Luke Woolfenden.
Earlier that season, Backhouse took control of the 2-0 win at Accrington in which he yellow-carded Davis, Woolfenden, Burns and three Stanley players.
Before that, he was in charge of the FA Cup tie against Coventry at St Andrew’s in November 2019 which ended 1-1. Andre Dozzell, Flynn Downes and one Sky Blue were booked.
Backhouse’s only other Town game was the 2-0 defeat at Stoke in December 2018 in which he replaced the referee who had started the match, Geoff Eltringham, in the 39th minute and showed yellow cards to Gwion Edwards and Potters’ full-back Erik Pieters.
Walton, Palmer, Button, Furlong, Davis, Johnson, O’Shea (c), Kipre, Greaves, Baggott, Matusiwa, Cajuste, Neil, Taylor, Clarke, Philogene, Nunez, Walle Egeli, McAteer, Mehmeti, Akpom, Hirst, Azon.
Photo: TWTD
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