City's skipper speaks ahead of the visit of Cardiff
ALEX Neil has already made a big impression on Norwich Cityâs players, according to captain Russell Martin.Neil has been putting the team through its paces ahead of his first home game in charge versus Cardiff City on Saturday (3pm).
Martin, speaking to the media at Colney on Friday afternoon, says the squad have no doubts about the direction offered by their new manager.
âHe speaks really, really well. In his first meeting with the lads â if a few of them didnât know much about him, then they did after that. They were really impressed,â he said.
âHeâs certainly got his point across. We know exactly how we want to play. There will be no grey areas â it will be black and white.
âHeâs made it really simple with what he wants the lads to do, so now itâs up to us to make sure we go and carry that out.â
Cityâs skipper says the players are determined to ensure that last weekendâs win at Bournemouth leads on to a run of positive results that could propel the Canaries into contention for the two automatic promotion spots in the Sky Bet Championship.
Mindset will be key, admitted Martin.
âIt was a big win last weekend but itâs been a weird season in terms of results. Weâve had a few where people have said âthatâs us, weâre back on it nowâ and then weâve followed it with not such a good one,â he added.
âWe just need to concentrate on the next game, and the one after that and the one after that.
âMentally weâve got to be right and we will be, there are no excuses, weâve spoken about it. Weâll be right up for it tomorrow. Weâre looking forward to getting back in front of our fans, then hopefully it we play like we did last weekend weâll be right up there.â
When asked if recent meetings with Cardiff will have any bearing on Saturdayâs content, Martin said: âThey were both similar games against them last year. I think David Marshall saved his best form for when we play them! Obviously itâs a different year with two different teams.
âThe first half down there this season was probably the worst weâve been all season, but the second half was probably up there with the best weâve been. If we can beat that second half performance on Saturday, weâll be alright.â
TICKETS
Cardiff City, Saturday January 17, 3pm
GET YOURS HERE