Having lost his first game in charge of Middlesbrough, Michael Carrick has definitely steadied the ship and come into Saturday's game having won seven points from their last three games, their best run this season.  

They have now won three of their last four games, scoring 10 goals in those three wins. Before this good run of away form, Middlesbrough had taken just one point from their previous six away games.  

Carrick’s men have the worst defensive record in the Championship so I do look at this game as a good opportunity for Norwich to sign off with a good home win before the break for the World Cup. 

I thought it was a solid away performance last Saturday at the magnificently named Aesseal New York stadium - to be fair, it’s not a patch on Millmoor. It hasn’t got a sauna in the away changing room for starters! 

I get the fact that Rotherham had lost three of their four previous games before Norwich rode into town, but the game before Dean Smith’s men beat them they should have brought an end to Burnley’s 17-game unbeaten run, only to concede two goals in added time to lose 3-2 on the night. 

The Pink Un:

On Tuesday night, they had a bit of a derby against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane – well, Rotherham see it as a derby as they are only a few miles apart separated by the M1 and the Meadowhall shopping centres. However, I don’t think the Blades see it as much of one!  

Rotherham won 1-0 on the night and that was after Paul Heckingbottom’s men smashed five past Burnley on Saturday lunchtime - which did bring Burnley’s unbeaten run to an end. 

So what’s going to happen in these next few weeks while the World Cup is going on?  

Norwich’s next game is away to Swansea on December 10, so it’s about four weeks of not playing competitive football for the lads. 

I’ve heard that the squad will be given some free time at the beginning of this international break, but then it’s back into the swing of things up at Colney. I wouldn’t be surprised if Dean takes his squad away for some warm weather training for a few days, it’s what tends to happen when these breaks occur. One thing is for sure, the lads will have to come back firing on all cylinders as they’ve three tough fixtures when the season restarts. 

January will soon be upon us and already people are asking who’s going to be coming in in the transfer window. Last January the club didn’t spend a penny and faced some fierce criticism from supporters for not at least having a go at staying up and basically accepting their fate of relegation. 

I think the squad already has good depth in it - if you can get Andy Omobamidele and Adam Idah fully fit in these next three or four weeks then it’s in a good place in my opinion. 

I think if Dean could bring in one player in January. I’d like to see a bit more creativity, and I think an attacking midfielder on loan maybe – perhaps a cheeky little offer to bring Emi Buendia in for the rest of the season! 

I’ve not too many memories of playing against Middlesbrough. I remember getting well and truly beaten 3-0 up at The Riverside back in March 1998, a season when Bryan Robson won them promotion, finishing second, three points behind Nottingham Forest. 

I guess the one memory I have from facing them was back on November 15, 1997. As we all know, I had a shocker of a start to my Norwich career, with just a couple of goals in the League Cup against Barnet to show for my efforts - or lack of if you watched me back then. I had to wait until November to bag my first league goal in a yellow shirt. 

It was a decent header in front of the Barclay from a fantastic Danny Mills cross, but sadly we went on to lose the game 3-1. At least I’d scored my first league goal for the club. If only our defenders had done their jobs on the day – joking, of course!