Following Burnley’s 3-2 win at home to Everton on Wednesday night, Norwich City are seven points from safety with eight games remaining ahead of Sunday’s visit of the Clarets at Carrow Road.
“It was really important to not lose the game,” Dean Smith said, reflecting on last weekend’s 0-0 draw at Brighton & Hove Albion, in his pre-Burnley press conference.
“There were parts of our play with the ball that we know have got to be a lot better than it was, but who knows, it might be a point closer to fourth bottom. With results, that’s how it’s been now, with Burnley beating Everton the other night.
“It was what I expected. They’re scrapping for every point and they’ve been in this situation many times and Sean \[Dyche\] has got them out of it many times as well. It was a performance that I expected in conditions that weren’t really an April game, but they got a well deserved win on the night.
“We can’t look any further than ourselves at the moment. We have to get points on the board, otherwise there’s no point looking anywhere. We got a point at Brighton and now we’ve got a big home game against a team that’s in and amongst it with us. It will be a real tough game against a real competitive team with good players, so we’ve got to be at our best.
“It’s a game that we’ve got to be really good in. Whatever will be will be. We’ve got to try to go and win the game and we will do, but we have to be better than we have been over recent weeks and I’m sure we will be.
“Sean has done brilliantly at Burnley. You can’t question the success they’ve had there to be in the Premier League for so long. They went down once and came straight back up and to keep a team with the financial limits that they have in the league has been brilliant.”
Asked about how his players will handle the pressure in Sunday’s game, Smith explained the preparations the team have been going through at Lotus Training Centre.
“We’re putting them into situations in training where they have to make good decisions,” he said.
“The more repetitive that can be, the more likely they’re going to do it on a matchday. I’ve always said that confidence is a big thing in football. I think the point at Brighton, not the performance but the point, and then the results… I don’t need to tell the players how big the game is. I think that will help the confidence in itself.”
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