NORWICH City fans may be outnumbered by more than 10 to one tomorrow – but Phil Mulryne insists they will still have a pivotal role to play in the first East Anglian derby of the season.

NORWICH City fans may be outnumbered by more than 10 to one tomorrow – but Phil Mulryne insists they will still have a pivotal role to play in the first East Anglian derby of the season.

The Canary playmaker can still remember the magnificent support his side received during their last visit to Ipswich 16 months ago and is hoping for more of the same at the weekend.

He's also hoping to give the 2200 strong travelling army something to celebrate at the end of the game to help erase memories of the injury-time penalty that gave Town a point they scarcely deserved last term.

"It will be a tough place to go but we're taking a lot of fans down with us and I'm sure they'll make themselves heard, just like they did last season," he said. "Their support really helped us that day – at times if felt as though we were playing at home.

"Hopefully we can play our part by quietening the home punters down in the first 20 minutes, make them a bit restless, and then just take it on from there."

In a ideal world that would mean coming away with all three points after Pablo Counago's controversial equaliser denied the Canaries victory last season. It's a goal that has stuck in the mind of the Northern Ireland international ever since – and he is looking forward to the exacting a touch of revenge at the weekend.

"I thought we were a bit unlucky last year," said Mulryne.

"We played really well and were leading into injury-time. Then they got that late penalty and there were two rebounds before it finally went in.

"It looked as though the lad was offside when he put it in but we should really have been chasing in a bit quicker."