Norwich City are stretching a point with veteran striker Dion Dublin - and reaping the rewards. The 38-year-old was on target twice in the midweek win at Blackpool, and manager Glenn Roeder says he is benefiting from the “cotton wool” treatment at City's training HQ.

By CHRIS LAKEY

Norwich City are stretching a point with veteran striker Dion Dublin - and reaping the rewards.

The 38-year-old was on target twice in the midweek win at Blackpool, and manager Glenn Roeder says he is benefiting from the “cotton wool” treatment at City's training HQ.

“We treat him differently in terms of the amount of training he has to do,” said Roeder, who has a clan bill of health for this afternoon's game at Stoke.

“He spends a lot more time in the gym with a stretching programme just to keep him as supple as possible. He doesn't need to waste his energy on the training ground, he needs it all for the games.”

Dublin is favourite to partner leading scorer Jamie Cureton up front again today, but Roeder says he has had no indication either way about the player's long-term plans.

“I think it will be a combination of age and enthusiasm to want to play,” he said. “I think he wants to get to the end of this season and then review the situation.

“He hasn't given me any indication that he is going to retire at the end of this year or he is going to carry on. I think it will depend how the rest of the season goes and how he feels come the end of the season.

“The only thing I have ever asked him is, 'do you think you will stay in football in terms of wanting to coach or manage?' and he doesn't think he does. He thinks he will go out and have a maybe a media life - where he does exceptionally well on the television and the radio. Whether that is for next year or the year after I don't know.”

Dublin's training schedule isn't new to football.

“I always remember Nigel Winterburn, who played for me at West Ham,” said Roeder. “He gave credit to Arsene Wenger for keeping that back four (Winterburn, Lee Dixon, Tony Adams, Steve Bould) going probably two or three years longer than some of them might have normally done, simply by Arsene's routine on stretching and not working them very hard on the training ground.”