PREVIEW: Norwich look to go seven clear of Championship drop at Oxford | OneFootball

Norwich City will look to pull seven points clear of the the Championship bottom three in their revival under Philippe Clement with a win at relegation-threatened Oxford United.

The resurgent Canaries have won five of their last six after struggling for form up to and after Clement’s debut draw against the U’s, beating Blackburn 2-0 at Carrow Road to go 17th and four points clear of the drop on Saturday.

Oxford’s only league win of 2026 came as they defeated Leicester City 2-1 at the King Power Stadium last month, meaning they sit four points adrift of the Foxes and safety from the relegation places.

In his pre-match press conference, Norwich boss Clement was asked as to whether teams are beginning to show more respect for his team by trying to nullify them more than going on the offensive themselves.

He jokingly replied: “You can look in my head sometimes, I think, have too many spies in the dressing room?

“That’s totally what I said to the team. Teams are more adapting towards what our team is doing, and that their first focus is to stop you. The team needs to be prepared for that.”

He also shared that he was not happy with their “sloppy” start to the Blackburn game, but praised his defense which the Belgian believed has come on leaps and bounds since he replaced Liam Manning last November.

At the centre of Norwich’s fine form is midfielder Anis Ben Slimane, scoring his first four goals of the season in five matches since breaking into the number 10 role – for which the Tunisian’s manager credited his work ethic.

The 51-year-old also voiced his praise for left-back Ben Chrisene, for stepping up to fill the role in the first-team amid a shortage of options, with Lucien Mahovo and Manchester United loanee Harry Amass both out injured.

Young Czech winger Matej Jurasek has been ruled out for nine to 10 weeks with a pressure injury to a bone in his foot.

He joins Pelle Mattson, Amankwah Forson, Mirko Topic, Jeff Schlupp, Shane Duffy, Ante Crnac, and Gabe Forsyth, who complete a worryingly long injury list for the visitors despite their strong run in the league.

But Clement couldn’t give any further information on the condition of Papa Amadou Diallo, who pulled up in the warmup before the clash with Blackburn, nor striker Jovon Makama, after he hobbled off in the first half.

US national team hopeful Josh Sargent remains out of reckoning after making himself unavailable for the FA Cup clash with Walsall in January.

The hosts will be without their top scorer Will Lankshear, after their six goal-strong forward saw red against high-flyers Coventry at the weekend.

Brian De Keersmaecker, Tyler Goodrham, Nik Prelec, Hidde ter Avest, and Greg Leig are also all unavailable, but former Norwich winger Przemysław Płacheta is set to face his former club after returning to fitness.

Matt Bloomfield, formerly of League One side Luton Town, called for U’s fans to bring their support ahead of a packed schedule

He said: “We really need our supporters tomorrow evening, because we’re in a really busy run of games. We want to be attacking as we possibly can and give them loads to get behind.

“Nobody expects us to go to Coventry and get a clean sheet, it’s us against the rest and it’s only us that’s going to get out of it – the players, the staff, the supporters, we have to be as one unit fighting our fight.”

Crucial to Oxford’s survival hopes is simply finding the net more often. While Bloomfield’s side have registered three clean sheets in his first six games in charge, they’ve only scored three.

Their form must improve under Bloomfield, despite similarly encouraging signs at the back to their East Anglian opponents, if they are to secure a third consecutive season in the second tier.