Hoping to make it back-to-back wins in the Championship, Norwich City will welcome Millwall to Carrow Road on Friday.

Dean Smith's side put up their first league victory of the season on Tuesday after a slow start, while their visitors salvaged a draw away at Swansea City in dramatic fashion to move onto seven points from four outings.

Match preview

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After finishing at the bottom of the Premier League table last term, Norwich City came into the new Championship season with the hopes of again making an immediate return to the top flight, but they did not make a strong start.

Dean Smith's side began with a defeat away at Cardiff City and were only able to share the points in the following contest at home to newly-promoted Wigan Athletic thanks to Max Aarons's second-half equaliser in a 1-1 draw.

Hoping to build on a penalty shootout win over Birmingham City in the EFL Cup first round after a 2-2 draw in normal time, the Canaries made the trip to Hull City at the weekend, but they left empty-handed, as Marcelino Nunez's goal was not enough to spark a turnaround after Oscar Estupinan had given their hosts a 2-0 lead.

Still in search of a first three-point haul of the new term, Smith's men were finally successful on Tuesday, beating Huddersfield Town 2-1 at Carrow Road as Joshua Sargent and Danel Sinani hit early goals before the Norfolk outfit defended a one-goal lead in the final 10 minutes following Pat Jones's finish.

On the back of their slow start, Smith and his team will be hoping Tuesday's victory acts as a turning point and will look to make it back-to-back home wins on Friday to kickstart a climb up the division.

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They face a tough test, though, as Millwall arrive having made a relatively positive start to the new term under Gary Rowett after a ninth-placed finish last season.

The Lions began with a 2-0 home win over Stoke City, thanks to Charlie Cresswell's brace, but would go on to drop out of the EFL Cup and lose away at Sheffield United in their second league outing.

Rowett's side would quickly bounce back at the weekend, coming from two goals behind to beat Coventry City 3-2 at The Den as Jake Cooper and George Honeyman drew them level before George Saville hit an 85th-minute winner.

Returning to action on Tuesday, Millwall made the trip to take on Swansea City, and, after looking set to fall to a defeat with early finishes from Ryan Manning and Michael Obafemi having the hosts 2-0 up in injury time, they forced a share of the spoils as Ben Cabango and Nathan Wood both scored own goals in the final four minutes.

Looking to continue their gradual improvement in the Championship and mount a playoff push this season, the Lions will aim to take an impressive scalp at the weekend and move onto 10 points from five outings.

Team News

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Norwich City have depth throughout their squad, although Smith may opt to only make minor changes following their win on Tuesday, with Joshua Sargent again set to lead the attack in the absence of Teemu Pukki after netting his first league goal of the season in that game.

Marcelino Nunez has quickly established himself in the midfield following his switch from Universidad Catolica, while fellow summer arrival Gabriel Sara is also vying for a starting berth.

With Dimitris Giannoulis, Jacob Sorensen, Sam McCallum and Sam Byram all sidelined, Kenny McLean may again operate as a makeshift left-back, with Todd Cantwell likely to play further forward on that flank, while Grant Hanley and Andrew Omobamidele have been Smith's preferred centre-back pairing in recent weeks with Ben Gibson reduced to the bench.

Millwall will remain without attackers Mason Bennett and Tom Bradshaw due to injuries, likely leaving Benik Afobe to spearhead the attack at Carrow Road.

Andreas Voglsammer could be in line for a first start up front, after coming off the bench away at Swansea following his arrival from Union Berlin.

Charlie Cresswell, Jake Cooper and Murray Wallace should again line up across the back three, with George Saville vying to come back into the midfield in place of either Billy Mitchell or Jamie Shackleton.

Norwich City possible starting lineup:
Krul; Aarons, Omobamidele, Hanley, McClean; Sara, Gibbs, Nunez; Sinani, Sargent, Cantwell

Millwall possible starting lineup:
Bialkowski; Cresswell, Cooper, Wallace; McNamara, Shackleton, Saville, Malone; Honeyman; Afobe, Voglsammer

We say: Norwich City 1-1 Millwall

Tuesday's win could trigger a hot run of form for Norwich, and they have the quality to hurt any side in the league, but we anticipate a tough test against a resilient Millwall outfit.

Rowett's men have shown their steel so far this season and could do enough to leave Carrow Road with a share of the spoils.

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Written by
Sam Varley

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