He's the talismanic captain and striker who is used to giving opposition defenders the beating.

But now Grant Holt is hoping to put a former Canary in the line of fire, as part of a Twitter challenge for Children in Need.

Norwich's number nine is hoping to put Paul McVeigh in the ring with former professional boxer Jackson Williams after the club's former winger challenged him to reach 22,000 followers on the social networking site.

If City's highest scorer, who had closed his account in the summer but recently reopened it, fails to reach the magic number by Thursday this week, he will make a donation to the charity which supports disadvantaged children and young people across the UK.

But if he reaches the target number of followers, McVeigh, who is now a sports presenter on TV and radio, has to go up for a round against Williams.

Holt, City's sixth highest ever goalscorer, was up to just under 13,000 followers yesterday.

On Twitter, he said: 'Them [sic] followers are going up its going to be close. Keep telling your friends and family. #knockmaccaout.'

He also explained how the challenge was going to work.

He added: 'Either way a donation is going in the pot but if he loses he has to go in the ring with @runningjackson for 3 minutes of pain.'

McVeigh said the challenge came about during his BBC Radio Norfolk show with Rob Butler, McVeigh and Butler.

Having agreed to his forfeit, he admitted he thought to himself 'what have I done'.

He said: 'I've never done any boxing in my life and Jackson's an ex-professional boxer who has fought Amir Khan.

'Holty's gone from about 3,000 followers to over 12,000 in less than a week.

It's going to be really, really tight.

'I'm a little bit worried.

'I'm sure if he makes it to 22,000, he will find it in his heart to still donate to Children in Need because I will be taking a pounding.' If McVeigh loses the bet, he will go up against Williams within the next fortnight and the round will be refereed by the former Norwich City player Darren Huckerby.

It is not known how much will be donated to Children in Need, which on Friday night saw a record amount of �26,757,446 raised.

To help Holt reach his target, follow him @Grantholt31. To follow conversations about the challenge, use the hashtag #knockmaccaout.

Have you used social networking sites for an unusual charity challenge? Call reporter Kate Scotter on 01603 772326 or email kate.scotter@archant.co.uk.