Match Reports

Despite having an eye on Cup glory, City kept up their recent league form with an impressive win at relegation-threatened Norwich, our first away win in the league in 2009, and our first at Carrow Road for two decades.

It was an even game, and either side could have won it, but for the first time in years, we're winning our fair share of these kinds of games.

Both sides looked dangerous going forward from the outset, and the ball saw plenty of action in the penalty areas, though defences were on top, and most attacks easily dealt with, until ten minutes in, when a Danny Fox free-kick was swung in, and David Bell headed wide with the goal at his mercy.

But winger Bell made amends shortly afterwards, providing a deep cross from the left-wing, for opposite number Jordan Henderson to rifle home from inside the area - the on-loan wingers first senior career goal!

Norwich tried to hit back, and Elliott Ward had to make a superb last-ditch tackle, after Jamie Cureton was seemingly clean through on Keiren Westwood's goal.

Later in the half, Clinton Morrison went close from a Fox corner, and Norwich defender Jason Shackell had a header saved by Westwood, and we had only ever-so-slightly edged a decent game, with Norwich at no point looking like a team in the bottom three, it has to be said.

Shortly after the break, the hosts equalised, and they pretty much deserved it. After a couple of goalmouth scrambles, with Danny Fox, Elliott Ward and Aron Gunnarsson all making clearances, they finally stuck the ball away, and it was left-back Jonathan Grounds who curled in a low finish after a corner wasn't fully cleared.

It had been a positive spell for Norwich, who seemed to have turned the game around, but good work from Gunnarsson set up Morrison who almost scored at the other end just after the equaliser went in.

Norwich had a penalty shout turned down for a possible Stephen Wright handball, while we continued to look threatening, with Leon Best's header well saved from Henderson's cross, and a long-range effort from Guillame Beuzelin also going close.

Either side could have got the winner, and fortunately, it was us. In a near-repeat of his stunning goal at Colchester, Danny Fox somehow found himself in a wide-right position, and after confusing the hell out of Norwich's Carl Cort (a striker who found himself in a defensive position) with three crafty turns, unleashed a delightful left-foot chip into the far corner that gave nobody a chance of stopping it.

The goal put us in front for the second time, but Norich hadn't given up, and Ward had to make a goalline clearance moments later from Fotheringham. Shortly afterwards, Best seemed to be brought down by the last defender on a counter-attack, but no penalty was given, and then at the other end, Norwich had another handball appeal, with the ref determined not to give anything like that today.

The home side continued to press, which gave us space on the break, and at the end, we should have made it three, but Morrison's personal drought continues, as he turned sub Freddy Eastwood's inviting cross onto the bar from close-range.

Without an away win in the league since December, this was a welcome result, and it's frustrating that our recent run of wins has seen us remaining in mid-table.

We've now done the double over Norwich, which has been harsh on them over the two games, and they looked too good to go down, but with other results all going against them today, they have a real fight on their hands. Hopefully a fight that we're not going to be a part of this season.

The Sky Blues disposed of Blackburn at the second time of asking to reach the Quarter Finals of the FA Cup for the first time in eleven years, and set up a high-profile fixture against Chelsea.

There were worries that we had missed the opportunity in the initial tie at Ewood Park, but despite conceding a late equaliser there, we approached this game with the full and sincere intention of winning the tie, while Blackburn elected to rest some players - to their detriment.

In front of the largest Ricoh crowd this season, we made a slow start, and Blackburn had early chances for Jason Roberts and Benni McCarthy.

But, unlike at Ewood Park, we didn't concede early on, and soon got comfortable with the game, with Elliott Ward heading just wide from a Danny Fox corner after 20 minutes.

We thought we'd scored mid-way through the half, when a blunder from Rovers keeper Jason Brown saw the ball break loose to Clinton Morrison, but the striker could only find the side netting from a tight angle.

Morrison then set up on-loan winger Jordan Henderson in a superb move, and Henderson came very close to opening his account, though Brown saved well.

Before half time there was a half-chance for Tugay from 25 yards, but generally we had done a good job of containing our Premier League opposition so far.

Early in the second half, Freddy Eastwood - playing on the left of midfield tonight - made a break through on goal and won a corner, snd we showed plenty of ambition, and little sign of trying to waste time and play for penalties.

And our positve approach was rewarded before the hour mark, as a throw-in was crossed by the impressive Henderson, and headed into the back of the net by Leon Best - the man in the mask showing why he's in the starting lineup with a clinical finish.

Blackburn's response was not what it could have been. Roque Santa Cruz came on, but was restricted to a couple of half-chances that were no trouble for Keiren Westwood, while defender Samba pushed forward, just as he did in the first game, to little avail for the visitors.

We probably should have had a second, when best fired straight at the keeper from Henderson's cross, and our failure to add another goal, coupled with some recent late goals against us, meant that we were in for a tough final few minutes.

But we are a strong side these days, and held firm during the eventful closing stages:

First Westwood had to be alert to save from Santa Cruz, then Morrison could have sealed it with a header at the other end, and then finally, Samba popped up with a stoppage-time header for Blackburn, but fortunately it went wide of the target.

Raptuous cheers greeted the final whistle, as we completed the giant-killing of Blackburn for the second successive season, and with Chelsea coming to town in the Quarter Finals, it's turning into the most exciting Cup campaign since 1987!

The Sky Blues' recent spate of good results against higher-placed sides continued with our second 1-0 success over Birmingham of the season.

The biggest crowd of the season at the Ricoh - though that record will almost certainly be shattered when Blackburn visit on Tuesday night - saw a very early goal from captain Scott Dann settle things, and whereas in some recent games we have conceded late goals, we held firm for the full 90 minutes with a stout defensive display.

Clinton Morrison probably should have broken his goal-drought in the first minute, as he had a shot well saved by Maik Taylor just seconds in, after beating the offside trap.

And from the resulting corner, Danny Fox crossed for Dann to volley in unmarked at the far post to give us the lead, and continue the almost unprecedented trend of defenders scoring regularly for us this season.

Having shell-shocked the visitors, we continued to dominate, and Aron Gunnarsson came close to scoring, with a shot that deflected wide, while Leon Best and Leon McKenzie both had headed chances, in an opening ten minutes where we looked like world-beaters.

Birmingham took a while to get going, and when they did test Keiren Westwood it was defender Larsson who got forward and had a shot easily saved.

Westwood had to make a better save, again from Larsson, from a free-kick, but most of the Birmingham players' shooting was attrocious, with several speculative shots going high and wide. Our back-four looked rock-like, with Dann in particular immense at all times, and we didn't even concede a corner in the entire half.

We created better chances with David Bell, playing in his preferred wide right position for the first time, crossing for McKenzie to get a good header in, and then the wingers reversed roles, with McKenzie's cross into a crowded penalty area finding Bell, who shot just across the face of goal, and if Morrison had stretched to get a final touch, it could well have been 2-0.

We went in at half-time looking fairly comfortable, and while the scoreline was the same, Birmingham hadn't posed the constant attacking threat that they did at St. Andrews a few months back.

After the break we suffered a blow with McKenzie picking up yet another injury - he had been one of our most effective players on the left.

But his replacement, Jordan Henderson almost made an instant impact, providing a good cross for Leon Best to shoot straight at Maik Taylor in the Brummie goal.

Chances for the visitors remained few and far between, but they had the ball in the back of the net through Scott Sinclair, only for the referee to consult with the linesman who had earlier raised his flag. Rightly the goal was not given, even though the players and fans celebrated for a while before realising. The cheers from the Sky Blues supporters when the ref pointed for a free-kick were almost as rousing as if we had scored!

McKenzie's iujury meant that there were five minutes of stoppage time to contend with, and we've conceded last minute equalisers in our last two games, but there was not be no late heartache this time as we held on well to record another excellent win at The Ricoh.

It was a case of deja vu in Lancashire as we conceded a late equaliser for the second time in three days, after looking like we might just hang on for a smash'n'grab win.

Burnley had more chances, and deserved the draw at least, but it was nice to get a result after some horrible recent games against them, not least ealier this season where they came from behind to win it late on.

Ben Turner has been in good form, despite having to wait a while for his chance under Coleman, and is now seemingly part of our first choice back four, with Stephen Wright, Scott Dann and Danny Fox - and all four played excellently, dealing with early pressure from Burnley, and making clearances for fun.

Early on, an Aron Gunnarsson throw-in caused consternation in the Burnley area, but was caught by the keeper, before Fox hit a free-kick, that Jensen was also equal to.

The home side's main goal threat was striker Stephen Thompson, but despite lots of crosses in his direction, he rarely got a chance to test Westwood.

Later in the half, Jordan Henderson tried a very ambitious shot from a long way out, but whilst on target, it lacked power and was comfortably saved. In-form Micky Doyle also chanced his luck from distance, before former Sky Blues trainee Graham Alexander tried something similar for Burnley.

We had been a good match for them, and duly took the lead shortly before the interval, as Henderson picked up a ball on the byeline, and crossed for the masked man Leon Best to score with a header. Henderson has been a quality wide player since joining on loan from sunderland, and we can only hope we'll be allowed to keep him for longer.

Having gone in a goal to the good at the interval, we knew we might face an onslaught in the second half, and Burnley - in good form coming into the game - ensured that we were in for an edgy 45 minutes.

Robbie Blake first saw an effort saved by Westwood, before an almighty goalmouth scramble, in which Doyle and Wright were both called upon to hack the ball off the line, as our goal led something of a charmed life.

But good defending, and saves from Westwood kept us ahead, and as the game wore on it looked like we might be on course for the kind of victory we secured at Birmingham and Sheffield Wednesday earlier in the season.

Westwood saved expertly from Elliott and Paterson, and seemed to grow in confidence as Burnley ran out of ideas, leading to a triple substitution with 20 minutes to go.

Chris Eagles came off the bench to change the game in the fixture at The Ricoh, and unfortunately for us, he did exactly the same thing here.

Westwood kept us in the game until the final minute of normal time, when our defence lost track of Eagles, and he lobbed Westwood to ruin his clean sheet, and make it 1-1.

While Burnley deserved to be level, it was heartbreaking for the Sky Blues supporters, especially after Saturday's late disappointment at Blackburn, and Burnley still had stoppage time in which to push forward for a winner.

But it would have perhaps been unduly harsh had we conceded a winner also, and Keiren Westwood's goalkeeping alone deserved a point.

A cracking cup-tie ended in relative disappointment as we failed to hold on for the last couple of minutes at Ewood Park, but a draw away against Premiership opposition is a good result, even if not on a par with our win here last season.

More than 5000 travelling Sky Blue Army made the trip in the hope that lightning would strike twice, and it almost did, despite several team members coming down with food poisoning overnight.

This setback meant several changes to the matchday squad were required, most significantly the loss of Keiren Westwood, so Andy Marshall made an unexpected appearance in goal, and - unfortunately - was beaten at both ends of the 90 minutes.

The game had barely got going when Blackburn scored from their first attack through star striker Roque Santa Cruz, with a finish from a tight angle that stunned us - though on the plus side, there was still at least 88 minutes left for a comeback.

And we played some reasonable football, with on-loan winger Jordan Henderson having our best chance of the early exchanges, shooting just wide from a deep Micky Doyle cross.

But Blackburn looked dangerous when they attacked, and had a stronger team out than in last season's competition, with Jason Roberts and David Dunn both going close for the home side.

We should have equalised on the half-hour when Danny Fox's free-kick fell to an unmarked Aron Gunnarsson right in front of goal, but he somehow headed wide when it seemed far easier to score. so his first goal for the club was to elude him - this time.

Gunnarsson was back in the side after suspension and, apart from his miss, playing well, as was Isaac Osbourne who had been injured for three months.

Late in the half, Santa Cruz had another good chance for Blackburn, but pulled his shot wide, and we went in 1-0 down, and still very much in the tie, and indeed the competition.

After the break we still looked up for it; although there was a scare when Santa Cruz got on the end of a free-kick, but his effort went wide. At the other end, Henderson and Doyle both had chances, and Rovers didn't look comfortable.

Scott Dann had been brought on, because recent signing James McPake was struggling with injury, and Guillame Beuzelin also had to go off early in the half, suffering from illness.

But the equaliser came just after the hour mark, and what a goal it was. Gunnarsson hadn't previously scored for us, and had missed a sitter in the first half, but when the hosts failed to clear their lines, he took a touch then unleashed a spectacular 25-yard half-volley into the roof of the net that will surely be a goal-of-the-season contender.

The goal revitalised us, and Gunnarsson almost added a rapid-fire second, after an impressive run, but his finish was high over the bar this time.

The game came to life when a Valentines Day semi-streaker, dressed as Cupid, invaded the pitch and began shooting roses into the crowd, but no harm was done, and play soon resumed - with Rovers putting the ball in the back of the net.

But the referee blew for shirt-pulling, after Givet looked to have bundled in from a free-kick, and we were able to breathe easy.

And things got even better for us a few minutes later when in-form Doyle scored for the third game in a row, picking up Freddy Eastwood's knockdown and having a speculative shot at goal from 25 yards.

Defender Christopher Samba was closing him down, but the ball deflected off him and looped spectacularly goalwards, and over Paul Robinson to make it 2-1 to the visitors.

This was Rovers cue to throw the kitchen sink at us, and sub Benni McCarthy had the ball in the back of the net, but was clearly a couple of yards offside, so the goal was rightly chalked off.

We were just minutes away from another famous cup upset, and had chances to make it 3-1 on the counter-attack, when strikers Clinton Morrison and Leon Best found space to shoot, but neither could bury their respective chances.

When we had the ball, we tried to keep it in the corner, and stall for time. When Rovers had the ball, they pushed everyone forward in search of an equaliser, with defender Samba playing as a striker.

We defended deeply, and clearances from Dann, Osbourne and Doyle kept us in the game after two late goalmouth scrambles.

But three minutes into added time, our resistance was finally broken, as Marshall spilled the ball in the latest frenzy in the six yard box, and Samba finished from close range to make it 2-2.

Perhaps not wanting a replay, Rovers even attacked again in the final seconds, looking for a winner, but defeat would have been very hard on us, and we'll take them back to the Ricoh.

A penalty save from Keiren Westwood deep into stoppage time ensured the most dramatic of endings to an entertaining win over league-leaders Wolves.

On the back of a couple of defeats, and with the transfer window now closed, Chris Coleman handed a debut to defender James McPake, while Leon McKenzie played his first game as a striker for rather a long time.

Two of our new signings linked up early on when winger Jordan Henderson found opposite number David Bell - via Clinton Morrison, and Bell finished the neat move with a solid effort, well saved by Hennessey in the Wolves goal.

Wolves then caused Westwood a headache after a defensive mix-up, before we took the lead through Micky Doyle's second goal in as many games.

A long punt forward from Westwood saw us attacking directly, and Morrison was able to poke a shot past Hennessey which rebounded off the foot of the post - but Doyle was quicker than the Wanderers defence to get there, and poked in from very close range.

Late in the half, Wolves had a chance to equalise from a corner, but debutant Christophe Berra headed over, and we went in ahead at the break.

Wolves had not been playing like a team that looked a shoe-in for automatic promotion, but then they hadn't looked like one earlier in the season against us either, and won at Molineux through sheer luck.

They managed a shot on target from Chris Iwelumo on the hour mark, but Westwood was able to comfortably save, while at the other end, Guillame Beuzelin had a chance from long-range.

The game was now being played at a frenetic pace and tackles were flying in, but there were few really solid chances and we we holding on comfortably, until Wolves got an equaliser from a corner, with sub Sam Vokes heading in to make it 1-1.

But we responded brilliantly. Within seconds of the restart, Beuzelin set up Henderson for an effort that was just off target, then McKenzie's solo run ended with a similar result.

We seemed determined to score again, and our third attack in as many minutes yielded the almost-instant equaliser, as Henderson set up McKenzie this time, and he made no mistake with a coolly-placed finish past Hennessey.

We fully deserved to be 2-1 ahead, and there were further chances for Morrison and Doyle in the final ten minutes, while the best Wolves could manage was a tame effort from Ebanks-Blake.

But right at the death, a Wolves attack ended with Ben Turner ajudged to have committed a foul, and the ref ominously pointed to the spot.

Westwood added to his already-high value by making himself big, and Ebanks-Blake's sheepish penalty was saved and held well by Westwood to put the seal on an excellent win.

On this display, Wolves are not promotion material, and we must have an outside chance of pushing on towards the top six.