NORWICH captain Mark Fotheringham says although hurt at being left out of the squad which faced Derby at the weekend, he respects the decision of City boss Glenn Roeder.

As the Canaries prepare to do battle with Bristol City after this weekend's international break, Fozzy said the game would provide important chances for the Canary squad.

"It's a massive game for us," said the City midfielder. "The league's so tight at the moment if you lose a few games you're way down there in the relegation zone, and then if you win people are talking about you hitting the play-offs. That's the way the Championship is, but the problem last year was that we were too inconsistent and now we're not taking our chances.

"We've now got two weeks to regroup before a massive game at Bristol City. Everyone's disappointed, the luck's just not been going our way, and we're disappointed where we are in the league at the moment. We've got some good players here so I'm sure we'll climb up the table sooner rather than later."

The 24-year-old continued: "I don't know what it is to be honest with you, I just think we're not really taking our chances at the moment and we're not killing teams off. That's the main thing, when you create chances you need to score goals and we're just not scoring enough."

City's game against Derby saw Darel Russell wear the captain's armband for Norwich, with Fotheringham absent from the starting line-up. Asked whether it was a difficult weekend for him personally. Fotheringham replied: "It's never nice being dropped from the team, I'm a professional and I'm always looking to play in the games. I respect the manager's decision, he's the boss and he does what's best for the team.

"It is hurtful when you're left out of the squad and I'm going to be fighting for my position and I've proved that in training, the gaffer came to me and said that I was the best player in training and I needed to keep that going. I'm an honest lad, I just need to get back to what I'm good at .

"Obviously with me being the skipper, I'm the leader of the team and I think I've taken a bit of criticism at the moment, but I'll accept any criticism that comes my way because I'm the figurehead of the team. If the team's not winning and we're sitting fourth from the bottom of the league then the buck stops at me - it's my responsibility to make sure we're winning games and to ensure that the boys are playing well.

"If it means I'm left out of the team due to a dip of form then I need to do everything I can to get back to playing at my best and get back to playing the way Mark Fotheringham plays, and that's getting on the ball and making the team play. I'm sure I'll be back in the team in the next few weeks."