Norwich City will look to get out of the Championship's bottom three with victory over Birmingham City on Saturday.

The Canaries have made an abject start to the new season by winning just one of their opening five league games, leaving new boss Daniel Farke with much to ponder over the fortnight's break for internationals.

The Norfolk-based outfit go into Saturday's clash off the back of a 4-0 defeat at Millwall and a 4-2 loss at Aston Villa, so they clearly know that they must solidify their backline if they are going to get anything against what it likely to be a new-look and potent Birmingham attacking unit.

Harry Redknapp's men have also made a poor start and sit just a point better off than this weekend's opponents, although there is much optimism around St Andrew's following the deadline day capture of Brentford's Jota, as well as the arrivals of Maxime Colin and Liam Walsh.

Nonetheless, the Blues have yet to pick up a point on the road this term while Norwich's only victory came at Carrow Road, so the Canaries will at least take some confidence into what could be a hugely pivotal game in both sides' campaigns.

Ahead of Saturday's encounter, we at FootballLeagueWorld have selected TWO Norwich stars who should be used as impact subs against Birmingham this weekend...

Marley Watkins

 

Summer signing Marley Watkins appeared in Norwich’s first three games of the new Championship season, but has been an unused substitute in their last two matches.

The 26-year-old did well in the main striking role against Fulham on the opening day, albeit should have scored, yet struggled somewhat the week after against Sunderland, and subsequently lost his place to Nelson Oliveira in their win over Queens Park Rangers.

And Portuguese’s fine form, which has seen him net three times in five appearances thus far, is likely to restrict Watkins to the bench once again, but he’s shown signs of quality in his short Norwich career to date, and could be an asset to Farke in what is becoming an increasingly important game against Birmingham.

Mario Vrancic

Mario Vrancic moved to Carrow Road during the summer and has since started four of their five Championship games.

However, after a poor start to the campaign, manager Farke knows the pressure is already on and may take the 28-year-old out of the starting eleven against Birmingham following his disappointing performance at Millwall last time out.

Nonetheless, the former Darmstadt midfielder has shown flashes of quality and, with slightly more time on the ball against a tiring backline, the Bosnia international could be a huge asset to Farke off the bench on Saturday.