Norwich City

Image source, Shutterstock

Norwich boss Philippe Clement felt the Canaries lost 2-1 to Birmingham at Carrow Road because of their poor start.

Norwich trailed 2-0 after just 14 minutes before they staged a comeback in the second 45 minutes, which Clement hailed as their best half under him.

The Belgian told BBC Radio Norfolk: "There were different parts to the game. In the first 20 minutes, were by far not good enough and not what we have been doing in the last few months, not on the front foot, not enough tempo on the ball, not finding the solutions and defensively giving away too much space.

"In the second half we changed it and we started to play better. At half-time, we could talk about the things which were totally not good, to go into details with the ball and without the ball.

"The second half was maybe the best half under me, I think. The passion, the quality on the ball, the chances, and a good goal.

"We were really unlucky not to have the points. We had 62 per cent ball possession, we had more chances than Birmingham, but they go home with the points and we lost the points in the first 20 minutes."

Norwich City are currently top of the Championship's form guide with 15 points from their past six games, level with Middlesbrough but having scored more and conceded fewer goals.

The Canaries have moved seven points clear of the relegation zone under head coach Philippe Clement, who has won 11 of his 19 games since being appointed in November.

Birmingham City will arrive in Norfolk two points short of the top six and with only one defeat from their past 10 outings.

• Norwich have lost their past two league games against Birmingham, which is more defeats than they suffered in their previous 19 games against the Blues in league competition (W12 D6).

• Birmingham won 4-1 against Norwich earlier this season (November 2025) and could do the league double over the Canaries for the first time since 2001-02.

• Norwich City have won six of their past eight league games (L2), with no Championship side winning more points than the Canaries since the turn of the year (18, level with Middlesbrough).

• Birmingham have won their past two away league games (2-0 vs both Sheffield Wednesday and Oxford United), as many wins as they recorded across their first 14 games on the road this season. They are looking to win three successive away league matches without conceding for the first time since October 2015.

• Norwich City have won their past two league games, keeping a clean sheet in both (2-0 vs Blackburn Rovers and 3-0 vs Oxford United); they last went on a longer league run without conceding in March 2021 (3 games).

Image source, EFL

Puma's Rainbow ball will return to the English Football League as part of an on-going campaign against discrimination and homophobia.

The special edition rainbow ball was introduced in 2024 to mark LGBTQ+ History Month and will be used at every EFL game from 20 February until 1 March.

Manufacturers Puma will make a donation to Football v Homophobia for every goal scored with their rainbow ball across the Championship, League One and League Two.

The donations will help support education against homophobia and promote inclusion across the season.

The EFL have released a video, external to coincide with the campaign which features a Preston North End fan who was charged with a hate crime following homophobic chanting during an FA Cup fixture against Chelsea.

The rainbow ball will also feature in EFL partner EA Sports' FC 26 video game.

"The rainbow ball is a powerful symbol of the values we uphold across the EFL all season long," EFL chief executive officer Trevor Birch said.

"It not only reflects our longstanding commitment to ensuring the League is representative of all its diverse communities, but also reminds us that we all have a role to play in creating an environment in which everyone feels they truly belong."

Image source, Getty Images

The draw for the FA Cup fifth round has been made. Here is a list of all the ties in the order they were drawn.

• Fulham v Southampton

• Port Vale or Bristol City v Sunderland

• Newcastle United v Manchester City

• Leeds United v Norwich City

• Mansfield Town v Arsenal

• Wolverhampton Wanderers v Liverpool

• Wrexham v Chelsea

• West Ham v Macclesfield or Brentford

The matches will be played over the weekend of 7 March.

Watch all the highlights and best video from this season's FA Cup

Marc Webber
Final Score reporter

Image source, Getty Images

As I waited to do the post-match TV interviews in the Carrow Road tunnel on Saturday, the song "Ain't No Stopping Us Now" started booming out of the Norwich City changing room.

As I stuck my head out of the interview room to see what was going on, sporting director Ben Knapper walked past me with a grin like the Cheshire Cat on his face.

The unbridled glee was utterly understandable.

After all, Norwich were now in the fifth round of the FA Cup and their impressive run of results shows no signs of slowing.

Despite missing key players like Jovon Makama through injury, they have found squad depth, displayed by the likes of World Cup-tipped Socceroo Mohamed Touré, who has scored five goals in three games.

And the consensus in the terrace tea bars is Anis Ben Slimane is a completely different player under Philippe Clement than he was before.

There are more examples you can add to that list of amazing changes that have propelled this club from the pits of doom to joy in under three months.

On 8 November, over 250 Norwich fans gathered outside Carrow Road screaming "sack the board, sack Ben Knapper, sack Liam Manning."

On Saturday, tens of thousands of Norwich fans stayed inside the ground cheering their hearts out. No-one was taking about sacking anyone.

Football is a rollercoaster of emotions, for sure, and I have seen highs and lows like this before.

But in my three decades of reporting on the sport I can honestly say I have never seen such a quick turnaround in intensity of polarised emotions.

Norwich have got their mojo back.

Image source, Getty Images

The 2025-26 FA Cup fifth-round draw will take place on Monday, 16 February at about 18:35 GMT.

It will be done before the fourth-round tie between Macclesfield Town - the lowest-ranked team left in the competition - and Brentford, with former England internationals Joe Cole and Karen Carney conducting the draw on TNT Sports.

Supporters can also follow the draw on the BBC Sport website and app.

All matches will be played around the weekend commencing Saturday, 7 March.

Unlike in previous years, there are no replays if matches end as a draw. All ties will go to extra time, and if necessary, a penalty shootout.

What are the ball numbers?

1. Liverpool

2. Fulham

3. Sunderland

4. Southampton

5. Wrexham

6. Arsenal

7. Chelsea

8. West Ham United

9. Mansfield Town

10. Norwich City

11. Port Vale or Bristol City

12. Wolverhampton Wanderers

13. Newcastle United

14. Manchester City

15. Macclesfield or Brentford

16. Leeds United

Image source, Getty Images

Norwich City head coach Philippe Clement told crowd-pleasing Paris Maghoma and Ali Ahmed at half time to cut out the party tricks as his side beat West Bromwich Albion in the FA Cup.

The Carrow Road crowd were delighted with Maghoma's goalscoring full debut but Clement said, speaking to BBC Radio Norfolk: "I told him and Ali [Ahmed] at half time that I don't want a circus, I want an efficient team that kills off games. I am really pleased to see him score with the head.

"We deserved to win it. In the first half we were totally dominant, and scored one good goal, but it should have been two or three. In the second half we were also dominating but when a few players got a little bit tired West Brom came into the game.

"They scored a goal from a transition, not that they were outplaying us or creating chances, and then it's important to stay calm and continue doing what we've been doing. That's the big step the team has made - a few months ago they would have become nervous, and so would the stands, but nobody felt we would lose this game, not on the pitch and not in the stands.

"We could kick on by bringing on fresh players who have played a lot in the last couple of months and have rhythm."

There are seven ties in the FA Cup fourth round on Saturday, and BBC Sport will bring you every moment.

• Burton v West Ham (12:15) - BBC Radio 5 Live & BBC Radio Derby

• Burnley v Mansfield - BBC Radio Lancashire & BBC Radio Nottingham

• Man City v Salford - BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 3 & BBC Radio Manchester

• Norwich v West Brom - BBC Radio Norfolk & BBC Radio WM

• Port Vale P-P Bristol City

• Southampton v Leicester- BBC Radio Solent & BBC Radio Leicester

• Aston Villa v Newcastle (17:45) - BBC iPlayer,BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra (with second half on BBC Radio 5 Live), BBC Radio WM & BBC Radio Newcastle

• Liverpool v Brighton (20:00) - BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Radio Merseyside & BBC Radio Sussex

Kick-offs 15:00 GMT unless stated

Follow all of the action and reaction here

You can also listen to today's 5 Live commentaries on most smart speakers. Just say "ask BBC Sounds to play Burton v West Ham" of "ask BBC Sounds to play Liverpool v Brighton", for instance.

Find out more about how to listen to football on BBC Sounds

How to follow the FA Cup fourth round on the BBC

Norwich City face West Bromwich Albion in an FA Cup fourth-round tie at Carrow Road on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

Ahead of the game, head coach Philippe Clement has been speaking to the media. Here are some of the key points:

• Goalkeeper Vladan Kovacevic is back in full training after missing the win over Oxford on Tuesday with a quad injury - a decision on his involvement in the tie will be made on Friday afternoon.

• Top scorer Jovon Makama had foot surgery this week - Clement said everything went well.

• Clement said the surgeon who operated on Makama is someone he knows, the son of an ex-president from his former team Club Brugge in Belgium.

• Midfielder Amankwah Forson is also back in full training following injury; he last played for the Canaries in December.

• On-loan midfielder Sam Field is available to play in the FA Cup for the Canaries.

• Clement says there is no change in the Josh Sargent situation; the striker refused to play in the FA Cup third-round tie against Walsall and has been absent since then.

You can listen to full live commentary of Norwich v West Brom online with BBC Sounds here.

Image source, Opta

Norwich welcome Championship rivals West Bromwich Albion to Carrow Road in the FA Cup fourth round on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

Philippe Clement's Canaries have climbed to 16th, three places above the Baggies, by virtue of six wins in their past seven games in all competitions.

Five-time winners Albion are winless in eight - which included a 5-0 home loss to Norwich on 20 January - though have kept back-to-back clean sheets for the first time under Eric Ramsay.

• Norwich City have lost three of their four FA Cup ties against West Brom, winning the other 2-1 at the Hawthorns in the fourth round in 2011/12.

• West Brom have already beaten Norwich at Carrow Road in the Championship this season. The Baggies last won two away games against an opponent in a season in 2007/08, winning twice away at both Coventry and Peterborough.

• Norwich won 5-1 against Walsall at Carrow Road in this season's FA Cup third round but the Canaries haven't won consecutive home games in the competition since January 2003.

• West Bromwich Albion are looking to reach the FA Cup fifth round for the first time since 2019/20 – they've lost their past two ties at this stage, 3-0 against Bristol City in 2022/23 and 2-0 against Wolves in 2023/24.

• Norwich will be without the injured Jovon Makama, who netted a hat-trick for the Canaries in the third round against Walsall and has scored in each of his past four FA Cup appearances, scoring six goals – no player in the last two seasons has scored more than Makama's six.