Canny City pocket extra Ashton cash

While West Ham United may have knocked Nigel Worthington's Norwich City out of the FA Cup two years running and poached his best player, their progression to a Cardiff showdown with Liverpool, and a guaranteed place in Europe, has earned the Canaries a tidy windfall.

As part of the £7.25million deal that took Dean Ashton to Upton Park, Norwich are entitled to £125,000 for the Hammers' UEFA Cup qualification. It was Ashton who provided the knock-own from which Marlon Harewood scored the 78th minute winner against Middlesbrough on Sunday, and who also caused Boro goalie Mark Schwarzer off with a broken cheekbone after a first half clash.

City recently received an extra £250,000 from Wigan after they avoided relegation, an agreement that was part of Damien Francis' summer move to Lancashire.