ALEX Neil says belief was the catalyst behind his team's crucial victory at Brighton & Hove Albion on Good Friday.

Bradley Johnson's second half strike maintained City's unbeaten record on the road under the Scot - and ensured promotion from the Sky Bet Championship remains very much in their grasp with six matches left.

When assessing the Canaries' performance in their 1-0 triumph, Neil's words reflected a 'job well done' attitude after a hard-fought contest against Chris Hughton's Albion.

"We believed that if we played to our full potential, we would win the match. We flitted in and out of that," he told reporters at the Amex Stadium.

"For the first 30 minutes we controlled the game. I thought we were excellent in terms of moving the ball. We could have scored a few opportunities, we had some good chances.

"Then to be fair to Brighton, for the last 15 minutes of the first half, they became the dominant side. They moved it better than us, and we didn't control the game from that point up until half-time.

"We changed a couple of things and had a chat about how we could improve, and in the second half we were the better side without being at our best.

"We don't lack belief at this moment in time though. We've been in really good form, and we took that into today's game."

Neil praised the impact of Nathan Redmond, who provided the assist for Johnson's winner after being introduced as a second half substitute for Wes Hoolahan.

He also pointed to his defence, who kept their first clean sheet since the East Anglian derby against Ipswich Town at the beginning of March.

"You can't always outscore the opposition. You've got to be stubborn, hard to break down and well organised," he said.

"Apart from that 15 minute spell in the first half, I thought defensively we had some big performances and John Ruddy was good in goal too.

"Redmond comes on and has an instant impact on the game, and manages to create a goal.

"It was just about trying to assess the match from the side, and trying to think of a different threat that you can pose them. All credit to Nathan. His attitude when he came on and the impact that he did have was fantastic."

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