Bring on the Blues

Chris Lakey

All roads lead to Ipswich after City won what manager Glenn Roeder described as the biggest game of the season at the weekend.

The Canaries passed the 50-point mark with a 2-0 home victory over play-off chasers Burnley - and can ease their relegation worries even further if they can go to Portman Road and claim the East Anglian derby honours next Sunday lunchtime.

Goal by Dion Dublin and Ched Evans - one right at the beginning, the other at the very end - earned the Canaries the points. And talk immediately turned to the clash with the club's fiercest rivals.

"The players can't wait to get on the coach and get down to Portman Road on Sunday," said Roeder, whose first game in charge of City was the 2-2 draw against Ipswich in November.

"It is not an ordinary league game, it is probably more like a cup game. It's all about bragging rights between the two sets of supporters and it is important we make sure that our supporters come out of Portman Road next Sunday bragging that we've taken the three points.

"We know it will be difficult, but that will be our target. We will go and attack - I think that is the best form of defence for us, go and attack, and that is what we will endeavour to do at Portman Road on Sunday."

City moved up to 16th in the table, but, more importantly are six points clear of the drop zone with four games remaining - and Roeder summed up what the win meant to the survival plan.

"We knew the importance of the game," he said. "I didn't want to load the players up with any more pressure than was needed, but although I always says the next game is the most important I actually thought this was the game that we had to win.

"With only four games to go after this I thought this was 'must win' and I told them that afterwards.

"They started the game under incredible pressure and they've carried it off, not with a lucky win but with a deserved win, playing good football as well."