FAO Martin Peters Norwich 2 Celtic 4

Norwich 2 Celtic 4

Celtic's preparations for the resumption of the Scottish League programme suffered a setback when midfielder Alan Thompson was stretchered off during their friendly at First Division Norwich.

Thompson was injured in an accidental collision with Canaries defender Brian McGovern seconds after replacing star striker Henrik Larsson, who was withdrawn from the action after taking a much less serious knock.

It appeared as though the former Bolton and Aston Villa player had hurt his ankle and it was certainly an injury scare manager Martin O'Neil could have done without with his side's return to action after their winter break just six days away.

And the Bhoys at least had the consolation of winning the match thanks to three late goals from Mark Burchill (83) and Lubo Moravcik (88 and 90) - although by then Norwich had introduced a whole host of veterans onto the field including former Rangers pair Robert Fleck and Dale Gordon and keeper Bryan Gunn, now on the Carrow Road backroom staff.

While the match was still a genuine contest the Canaries more than matched their illustrious visitors and took a 2-0 lead before a wonder goal from Larsson brought his side back into the match.

The game, a testimonial match for long serving Norwich physiotherapist Tim Sheppard attracted a crowd of 15,034 to Carrow Road including an estimated 5,000 Celtic supporter who took over an entire stand.

They were treated to a useful workout for the Scottish league leaders as Norwich gave them a taste of what is to come for the second half of the season after a couple of gentle friendlies in the Florida sunshine.

Norwich started the brighter of the two sides and went in front six minutes before the interval when Adrian Coote caught Ramon Vega in possession on the edge of the box before rifling a low shot past keeper Robert Douglas.

The Canaries changed their entire team at the interval while Celtic stuck with six of their starting line-up.

But the City reserves stunned the visitors by stretching their lead 10 minutes after the restart.

Former Manchester United striker Alex Notman threaded through a delightful ball into the path of Northern Ireland youngster Paul McVeigh, who needed no second invitation to slip the ball past substitute keeper Jonathan Gould.

Less than a minute later Celtic were back in it as Marsden hit a tremendous volley on the turn from the edge of the area which gave Robert Green no chance.

The goal was reminiscent of Justin Fashanu's goal of the season for Norwich in the late 1970s and set the scene for an excellent fightback, although much of the gloss of their victory was removed by the concerns surrounding the fitness of Thompson.

Celtic manager Martin O'Neill confirmed afterwards that Alan Thompson's injury was not a serious one.

O'Neill said: "He's got a couple of gashes down his shin but hopefully he should be OK, although Sunday (against Stranraer in the Scottish Cup) might be a bit too early for him."

Of the game O'Neill added: "It really was an excellent workout for us. It was a good competitive friendly and Norwich played extremely well.

"In fact it was just what we needed after our week in Florida. When you are over there with the sun on your back it's easy to forget what you are coming back to but this was certainly a timely reminder for us."

Posted By: pants, May 3, 21:36:06