Norwich City get their pre-season schedule underway on Friday evening with a fixture away at non-league outfit Dereham Town.
The Canaries are currently preparing for life back in the Championship after finishing bottom of the Premier League table in 2021-22.
Match preview
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Having spent the last four years yo-yoing between divisions, Norwich will once again compete in the second tier next season as they bid to bounce back from a hugely disappointing stint in the top flight.
Prior to the campaign getting underway, some notable signings had been made, but the club finished with just five victories and 22 points to their name.
Dean Smith now has the task of instigating yet another instant return to the Premier League with a squad which will look significantly different to last season's group.
Each of their four loanees have returned to their parent clubs, while a couple of notable names have departed Norwich on free transfers.
As it stands, the East Anglian outfit have not pushed hard to bring in fresh faces, the only addition being that of Newcastle United midfielder Isaac Hayden on a season-long loan deal.
The squad is also boosted by the return of Todd Cantwell with Bournemouth having opted against taking up their option to sign the playmaker on a permanent basis.
Like their hosts, Dereham will be playing their first pre-season friendly of the summer as they look towards the start of the Northern League Midlands Division.
The Norfolk-based outfit have been moved from the Isthmian League North, where they finished in 10th position during the last campaign.
With less than 25 miles between the clubs, the teams are no strangers to squaring off against each other at the start of pre-season.
Team News
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Norwich only returned to pre-season training on June 24, making it inevitable that Smith will ease his players back into action on Friday.
Ahead of a pre-season trip to Germany and Austria, each of his available players are expected to make an appearance, potentially limited to 45 minutes in either half.
The likes of Onel Hernandez and Jordan Hugill are expected to feature having returned from loans at Birmingham City and Cardiff City respectively, but Teemu Pukki is unavailable.
Adam Gusterson will take a similar approach when selecting his Dereham side with recent additions Ryan Swift and George Green likely to be involved at some stage.
We say: Dereham 0-3 Norwich City
Over the coming weeks, numerous non-league sides have the potential to upset their more illustrious opponents at their own ground. However, we do not feel that this will be one of those occasions, the Canaries likely to cruise to a comfortable win ahead of bigger tests to come.
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Darren Plant
