Norwich City Under-23s are back in action at The Walks on Friday night, with coach Alan Neilson trying to add defensive strength to the young Canaries' attacking prowess.

City's U23s take on Birmingham City in their latest game at the home of King's Lynn Town, looking to bring an end to a three-game losing streak in Premier League Two.

After a strong start to the season, winning three of their first four games, the Canaries prospects have dropped into mid-table in Division Two after a 4-3 defeat at Burnley last Friday.

Including a 3-3 home draw with Derby and a 3-2 defeat at Reading in the Premier League Cup group stages, Neilson's team have scored 24 and conceded 26 from their 10 games this season - with striker Tom Dickson-Peters leading the way with 10 goals.

Josh Giurgi and Saxon Earley usually play in midfield but both have been needed at full-back regularly this season, with Northern Ireland Under-21 international left-back Sean Stewart out injured and right-back Bali Mumba a permanent fixture at senior level.

"We have a process. We make sure the lads always play out from the back, regardless of the situation. We don't want to move away from it," former Southampton and Newcastle defender Neilson told City's official website.

"We want to still create chances but we need to tighten up a little bit defensively.

"It's difficult at the moment because we've got a few lads playing out of position because of injuries, but we'll work on things on the training ground."

Reflecting on the defeat at Burnley, Neilson said: "It was a frustrating one, we gave the ball away a lot early on through some mistakes and some unlucky play.

"We started to play after 15 minutes, although we were 2-0 by that point. From then on, we played between the lines and kept the ball a bit better. TDP (Dickson-Peters) took his first goal really well.

"However, a couple of mistakes in the second half and we're two down again. We have to start games better."

The match is a 7pm kick-off, with Birmingham arriving sat 12th in the table. Tickets are £5 for adults and concessions, and £1 for under-16s, with car parking also priced at £1. Tickets and parking can be bought at kingslynntownfc.ktckts.com.

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