Norwich City 4-0 Blackpool

Gary Hooper scored a hat-trick as Norwich thumped bottom side Blackpool.

The former Celtic striker scored twice before the break, the first a cool finish from Jonny Howson's through ball and the second fired in following a delightful one-two with Wes Hoolahan.

Hooper sealed the win with a penalty early in the second half after Peter Clarke brought down Lewis Grabban.

Nathan Redmond added a fourth with a superb free-kick as Blackpool suffered their 17th loss of the season.

Despite a slight upturn in fortunes for Lee Clark's visitors, who had recorded three wins in their last nine games before the trip to Carrow Road, it was a familiar story for the Tangerines as another defeat means they are still nine points from safety.

The hosts had an early chance to take the lead when Grabban latched onto a hopeful through ball but his scuffed shot was comfortably gathered by Elliot Parish.

However, Alex Neil's side did not have to wait much longer for the opening goal as Howson threaded a fine pass through a static Blackpool defence and Hooper slid the ball home.

Midway through the first half, Hooper doubled the lead with an emphatic finish after a fine passing move and Grabban almost made it 3-0, but his effort was tipped onto the bar by Parish.

A clear foul by Clarke on former Bournemouth man Grabban in the box 11 minutes after the break handed Hooper his chance to notch his first Norwich hat-trick, and the 27-year-old made no mistake from the spot as he sent Parish the wrong way.

The former Cardiff and Bristol City goalkeeper made an excellent save to keep out Grabban as the hosts pushed for more goals, but they only had until stoppage time to wait as Redmond stepped up to curl a stunning 25-yard free-kick into the top-left corner.

Steven Davies almost added a consolation for Blackpool with a volley but John Ruddy produced a fine save to deny him.

Norwich City manager Alex Neil:

"I should imagine Gary Hooper was disappointed he wasn't playing last week and all credit to him for his response.

"He worked really hard today, as the whole group did, and he got his reward. He took his first two goals really well and showed what a good finisher he is. We now need to get the maximum out of him week in, week out.

"We worked our socks off today and got what we deserved - scoring four goals is always a good achievement regardless of the opposition, while a clean sheet was also pleasing."

Blackpool manager Lee Clarke:

"I thought we were punished for being poor when we didn't have the ball - we allowed quality players too much space and the first three goals were all really disappointing from our point of view. We made it too easy for them.

"I suppose the good thing is that other results went our way and we haven't lost any more ground.

"We have got two home games coming up and we are on a good run at Bloomfield Road, but we know we have to starting picking up points away from home as well."