Seb Bassong has just one regret about his special relationship with Russell Martin at the heart of Norwich City's defence.

The Cameroon international is trailing in Martin's slipstream in the goalscoring stakes after the captain scored his third goal of the new campaign at Liverpool last weekend just hours after the birth of his son.

'I have sacrificed myself for two of those, by the way. I bust my lip against (Martin) Skrtel and (Simon) Mignolet who punched me on the corner and then he scored,' said Bassong. 'Then the goal, I think, against Stoke I blocked his man and he scored. I am sure he is going to do the same for me. When he stops scoring, I will take over. He knows I am going to turn it around soon and I have been trying so hard.

'At Liverpool I was on the floor so I didn't know who had scored. Then I saw him doing the baby celebration and I thought maybe Russell has scored again. We compliment each other on the pitch. Russell is the captain and leader and we talk a lot on and off the pitch to make sure everything is right. With Russell we have created a really strong partnership, we work for each other.'

The duo should be reunited at West Ham on Saturday in the Premier League after Martin missed the midweek Capital One Cup win over West Brom following an eventful Anfield trip around the birth of his third child.

'When I found out that Russell's wife was giving birth I asked him, 'Are you going to go or stay?' I tried to make him stay but then I said, 'If you have to go, you have to go',' he said. 'When I heard he'd left and came back that was an emotional moment for him. I knew that boost of having a baby would not last until the end of the game and he would be tired. At the end I saw him struggling a little bit, he was looking for air but he made it through, he is a good guy, a warrior.'