The Hatters kick-start the 2020/21 season at Kenilworth Road tomorrow afternoon as they face Norwich City in the Carabao Cup first round.
Town will be looking to recapture their end of season form, which saw them lose just one out of their remaining nine matches to overturn a six-point deficit at the start of lockdown, to complete a remarkable Championship survival.
Nathan Jones’ side continued their good work during pre-season, winning all four of their matches and not conceding a goal in the process.
Norwich were also undefeated in their friendly matches and will look to make an immediate impression after they suffered relegation from the Premier League last season.
iFollow match passes can be purchased for £10 by clicking the image at the bottom of the page.
Nathan Jones said:
(Please note these quotes are taken from Nathan’s press conference on Thursday)
On the season opener: “It’s a good test. I won’t say it’s a nice start because there could’ve been nicer starts to the season, but what we always tend to do here, is draw the highest ranked team in the competition.
"Anyone that comes down from the Premier League, we draw them in the first round of the cup. It happened with West Brom and now it’s happened here.
"But it’s a good test. If this was the last pre-season friendly, which it effectively would’ve been, then we would’ve wanted a Norwich or a Premier League test, something different from a top end Championship test, and we’ve got that.”
On his teams desire to win: “For all intents and purposes, we want to win the game, it is a cup competition and there’s something on the game, so we want to win it but, effectively, it’s an extension of our pre-season programme as it’s the fifth game, the marquee game.
"We’re treating it as a cup game, but using it as part of our pre-season preparations, going into the Barnsley game, which is the season league opener.”
On the quality Norwich possess: “I think they’ve got a strong enough squad and not far off 40 professionals who are of Premier League quality. I’m not saying they’ve lost any quality, but they’re a top Championship side, if not Premier League side, so they’ll be fine. They’ve got a strong enough squad to be able to handle that.”
You can watch Nathan's full press conference by clicking here.
Who?
Norwich were promoted to the Premier League as champions in 2019 but failed to survive in the top flight and finished 20th last season.
In the past ten years, the Canaries have spent five of those in the Premier League and their history extends beyond the 2000’s too.
They have won the League Cup twice in their history, first in 1962 and most recently in 1985 when they beat Sunderland 1-0 at Wembley Stadium.
When and where?
Kick-off is 3pm on Saturday 5th September at Kenilworth Road.
Man in the middle?
The referee for tomorrow’s game is John Busby who took charge of matches in League One and League Two last season. He last refereed a Hatters game in March 2019 when Town beat Doncaster Rovers 4-0 at Kenilworth Road.
Played before?
Hatters fans will fondly recollect the last time they faced Norwich City, which in 2013 was a clash between a Premier League and Non-League side.
The Hatters produced a famous FA Cup shock beating the Canaries 1-0 at Carrow Road courtesy of a Scott Rendell goal in the fourth round, becoming the first non-league team to knock a top-flight side out of the competition since 1989.
Follow the action
You can follow tomorrow’s match against the Canaries via Simon Pitts’ usual match commentary or via an iFollow video match pass.
This match is NOT available to view outside of the UK. Full details on how to secure your pass can be found here.
Click on the image below to buy a £10 match pass to watch the Norwich tie on iFollow Hatters.
