The possibility of a Friday night East Anglian derby at Carrow Road in April is under discussion due to railway engineering work over the weekend of the match when the Blues will be looking to secure their first double over their rivals from across the border since the the inaugural 1992/93 Premier League campaign.

The game is currently scheduled for 3pm on Saturday 11th April but has usually been moved to Sunday lunchtime as a matter of course over the last couple of decades.

However, Norfolk Constabulary is concerned that disrupted rail services could mean more fans travelling by car, making the job of policing the game more difficult.

The clubs and EFL have been contacted about the issue with a Friday evening staging of the game among the alternatives.

“We’re having ongoing conversations with all partners to explore the options available,” a police spokeswoman said.

Network Rail added: “There are planned engineering works on that specific weekend between Needham Market and Norwich on the Great Eastern mainline, from early Saturday morning to early morning the following Monday.

“This would mean all rail services would not run through this section of the line and a bus replacement service would be provided by Greater Anglia to allow passengers to complete their planned journey.

“We have not been asked to amend our planned engineering work at this time but we are aware of discussions happening between Greater Anglia, the football club [Norwich City] and the local constabulary about the derby match.”

Town are understood to prefer a weekend staging of the game and a Friday night match seems an unlikely prospect given the last evening kick-off at Portman Road in April 2011, which led to 19 arrests and 13 ejections.

An internal police inquiry cited the scheduling of the game as the main factor in relation to the trouble.

“The critical issue above all else in respect of the cause of the disorder was to move the fixture from its traditional time of midday on a Sunday to an evening kick-off,” Suffolk Police’s professional standards department said in the report.

“The evening kick-off afforded rival fans the opportunity to consume large quantities of alcohol, an obvious aggravating factor in this case.”

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