Chris Hughton’s Norwich play out a goalless draw at MK Dons and record a third clean sheet in four. Sir Alex Ferguson admits he has a dilemma over the goalkeeper’s position at United, Paul Lambert talks up the potential of Charles N’Zogbia and Stephen Ireland, while Reading’s Jimmy Kebe looks set to miss the start of the season with a hamstring problem:
MK Dons 0 Norwich 0
Chris Hughton handed new boys Robert Snodgrass and Michael Turner their first starts for Norwich at MK Dons last night. The Canaries boss rolled out a 4-5-1, with forwards Chris Martin and Simeon Jackson on the flanks and Steve Morison the lone frontman. Both Snodgrass and Jackson impressed – the former’s set-pieces and eye for a killer pass caused chaos throughout the first-half and created plenty of chances, while the latter passed up a trio of opportunities to break the deadlock prior to the break. The two new signings almost combined to give the visitors the lead early in the second-half –Turner met a Snodgrass corner only to see his header superbly saved before he made way for Ryan Bennett on 65 minutes. Stout defending from MK Dons limited Norwich’s offensive forays as the game rolled on and, aside from a Martin effort late on, the Canaries failed to threaten as the match finished goalless.
Despite an inability to find the net, Hughton will no doubt take solace in the fact that his side are, yet again, showing a greater defensive resilience over pre-season – this was their third clean sheet in the last four matches. With a mere three clean sheets to their name over the entirety of 2011/12, Norwich’s failure to shut out their opponents has seen their defensive options handed kind price tags for the upcoming campaign – an upturn in output at the back could well see the likes of Marc Tierney (4.0 in FPL) earmarked by Fantasy managers if he can nail down a regular role at left-back next term.
Norwich Starting XI: Rudd; Francomb, Barnett, Turner (R. Bennett 65), Lappin; Jackson (Josh Murphy 79), Surman, Hoolahan, Snodgrass, C. Martin; Morison
In Other News…
As Fantasy managers eye up Reading’s assets ahead of their double Gameweek 1, the Royals right winger Jimmy Kebe looks set to miss out. The club’s official website revealed he is “unlikely” to be ready in time to face Stoke and Chelsea due to an ongoing hamstring problem, after undergoing scans earlier this week. This looks good news for summer signing Garath McCleary to step into Brian McDermott’s starting XI – the former Forest man comes in at 5.0 in FPL and a mere 4.3 in the Sky Sports game. Reading also revealed Chris Gunter has yet to recover from the ankle problem that has forced him out of the last couple of pre-season matches – he is set to miss today’s friendly against Bournemouth as a result.
Sir Alex Ferguson hinted that the goalkeeper’s position is far from settled at United yesterday after Anders Lindegaard signed a new four-year deal at Old Trafford. While many Fantasy managers have pencilled in David De Gea due to the Spaniard’s 6.0 FPL price tag, Ferguson admitted to the club’s official website that the choice between the two is a tough one to call and is set to give him a dilemma in the season ahead:
Anders has come on leaps and bounds since joining us last year There is healthy competition in the goalkeeping department, which is always good for the team, albeit a headache for me! I am delighted to see that he has clearly returned from the summer break in good shape after the disappointment of suffering an injury last season
Paul Lambert reckons both Charles N’Zogbia and Stephen Ireland are set to be key players for Villa next season. The pair were huge disappointments under previous boss Alex McLeish but Lambert’s more attack-minded approach paid dividend at Norwich last term and he anticipates the duo will be crucial to his side’s success in the upcoming campaign. N’Zogbia, at 6.5 in FPL and 5.7 in the Sky Sports game, and Ireland priced at 5.5 and 5.0 in the respective Fantasy games, could well be intriguing mid-price alternatives if they live up to their manager’s faith, with Lambert saying:
Stephen is a real talent, there’s no doubt about that. It shows when he plays because there is a lot of creativity there, just like Charles. They are both really talented footballers. We will try to get the best out of them because they are very, very clever footballers. We’ve got to get Ireland in positions where he can hurt teams. I’ve got a fair idea of what I want to do with him.
