NCFC LIVE: Canaries begin pre-season with Dereham Town trip

Norwich City begin their preparations for the 2022/23 Championship season tonight with a short trip up the A47 to Aldiss Park to face Dereham Town - and you can follow updates live with our matchday blog. 

Dean Smith's side will kickstart their warm-up matches with an encounter against the non-league side, in-front of a strong crowd hoping to witness a positive performance for their side. 

Sporting their new home strip, the hope is that an emphatic performance will help continue to shift the narrative after a tough end to last season's campaign that culminated in Premier League relegation. 

Norwich will be without a core of senior players who are enjoying an extended break after playing international fixtures last month, including Teemu Pukki, Tim Krul and Grant Hanley among others. 

Dereham are a step four side who will play their football in the Northern Premier League Midlands Division after being moved from the Ismithian North Division. They are managed by ex-City youth player Adam Gusterson. 

Smith is expected to rotate his squad heavily throughout this fixture, with improving fitness being the key aim as Norwich build-up to their opening Championship fixture away to Cardiff on July 30. 

These teams last met in pre-season in 2014, when Kyle Lafferty's goal secured a 1-0 win for Neil Adams' side. 

- You can join in with the debate and follow live updates from Aldiss Park throughout the evening with our Canaries correspondent Connor Southwell