DAVID CUFFLEY The Canaries must check on the fitness of a handful of players ahead of tomorrow's Championship clash with second-placed Derby at Carrow Road (7.45pm).

DAVID CUFFLEY

The Canaries must check on the fitness of a handful of players ahead of tomorrow's Championship clash with second-placed Derby at Carrow Road (7.45pm).

Manager Peter Grant admitted there were a few fresh concerns after the 3-1 win at Barnsley.

He said: “Mark Fotheringham had a knock, Simon Lappin had a knock and played on.

“Darren Huckerby was struggling before the game and Jason Shackell had been dizzy for the full second half, but he wanted to stay on. We didn't have another centre-back on the bench and we had to keep him on there.

“That's great credit to them, they've given great commitment to the cause and they're getting their just rewards at the moment. But we know we've a long way still to go yet to be a top side and we've got to keep improving.”

Apart from long-term absentees Robert Earnshaw and David Marshall, injured trio Dion Dublin, Peter Thorne and Chris Brown all missed the victories at Luton and Barnsley.

“Even if they're fit, they've got to work to get back into the team,” said Grant, relishing the game against the Rams.

He said: “What a fantastic game against a top-of-the-league team that's been very consistent this season. We're really looking forward to it.

“We've played particularly well at home but we've not got the results - apart from Coventry, where I thought we were poor. We played well against Wolves and gave them a doing. We played well against Leeds and, apart from the first 20 minutes, played well against Blackpool.

“It's about time we put on a very good performance and scored some goals at home and what a chance to come up against the guys that have the chance of promotion to the Premier League. It's another yardstick for us to measure ourselves against the best.”

Grant said of Saturday's victory: “We've got guys that can produce moment of magic and they did that today. The 'keeper made good saves and we had to defend resolutely in the second half because Barnsley came at us.

“To have your front three scoring goals is important. They were terrific goals and I thought we could have killed the game off. Then we lost a bad goal right on half-time.

“Barnsley kept going and it would have been interesting if they had got a second goal, to see how the boys reacted.”