Grant: I don't want another free weekend

Norwich City manager Peter Grant has another reason for wanting to beat Blackpool tonight - to avoid yet another weekend with no action for his first team.

The Canaries face Blackpool tonight at Carrow Road with the winners rewarded with a trip to Chelsea in the FA Cup fifth round but, should the unthinkable happen, Grant's men will face yet another weekend without a match.

Following postponements away at Burnley and Luton Town the last thing the City boss wants is yet another weekend without any football.

If Norwich lose to the Seasiders tonight it would mean out of the last six weekends, City would have only played in only three of them, resulting in a fixture pile-up and potentially a loss of match fitness within his squad.

“We're just hoping to have a game on Saturday. That's the most important thing because the last thing we need is another free Saturday - that's probably the most important thing for me. I don't want too many free weekends because we've had enough at this moment in time because then we've got the international break and all that to come, which is another weekend you end up losing.”

However, Grant insisted there will be no talk of Chelsea within the City ranks until they can safely negotiate their way past Simon Grayson's League One side.

Asked whether the fact that a tie against the Premiership champions provided the ideal incentive to beat Blackpool, Grant said: “I hope not. This game is the most important. Everyone else can talk about it if they want but I'm not interested.

“I wouldn't care if it was Tamworth in the next round, there would still be the same focus.”

Grant insisted no thoughts of prioritising any competition over another has entered his mind but added that although the cup is a nice distraction, promotion to the Premiership is the ultimate goal.

“I'm not a believer in prioritising. The biggest thing here is to get promotion to the Premiership there's no doubt about that.

“But if you said to me I could win the next two cups then I'd do that as well. I want to win every game that we play in and I'll never change from that.

“I just think that each game is as important as the next. Fortunately for us we are still involved in the FA Cup and that's my priority for tomorrow evening.”