IT is 47 years since Norwich City last visited Layer Road, and 50 years since they last finished below Colchester United in the Football League pyramid.

By Carl Marston

IT is 47 years since Norwich City last visited Layer Road, and 50 years since they last finished below Colchester United in the Football League pyramid.

The Canaries make their long-awaited return to the home of the U's this Saturday, and they cannot really afford a defeat if they want to overhaul Geraint Williams' men in the Championship table.

Norwich are six points behind the 10th-placed U's, with a game in hand. But they have been dreadfully disappointing on the road this season, with just four wins from 18 away games.

You have to flick back through the record books to the 1959-60 season to discover the Norfolk club's last visit to Layer Road. It ended in a comprehensive 3-0 defeat, with marksman Martyn King netting a hat-trick in front of a crowd of 13,053.

Norwich went on to win promotion from the Third Division that season, finishing second behind champions Southampton. Benny Fenton's Colchester side finished ninth.

The 1956-57 season was the last, and in fact only time, that the U's have finished above Norwich. United narrowly missed out on promotion from Division Three South, finishing one point behind champions Ipswich in third, while the Canaries finished bottom.Back to the present and wingers Karl Duguid and Kevin McLeod face a race against time to be fit for the weekend.

Skipper Duguid is hoping to shake off a knee injury, which caused him to miss the U's 2-1 win at Southampton while McLeod is recovering well from a minor hernia operation.