Norwich City head coach Dean Smith says he and his players do not have any extra motivation going into Sunday’s game, because they can deny Tottenham Hotspur a place in next season’s Champions League.
The Canaries face Antonio Conte side at Carrow Road having already been relegated from the Premier League. However, the weekend’s match represents an opportunity for the team to sign off the season with a positive performance and result for their fans who have supported the side superbly throughout the year.
If they win though, Norwich would open the door for Arsenal to overtake Spurs into fourth position in the table and in doing so claim the last available spot to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
“That doesn’t affect us at all,” said. “It is a game of football. It is our last home game of the season and last Premier League game of the season. We will try and win the football game because we want to get the points, but there is no extra motivation (because we can deny Spurs a Champions League spot).
“I have had texts of Arsenal fans and I have had texts of Tottenham fans, but I have no allegiance to either so there is no extra motivation at all.”
Speaking about opposition manager Conte and the job he has done at Spurs, Dean added: “I think he has come in and done a really good job. I think he has done well whether he has been. I remember playing against him with my Brentford team when he was at Chelsea.
“I worked with John Terry at Villa for three years and he told me how good a coach he was. He won the Premier League with Chelsea, went back over to Italy and won the league with Inter Milan. I picked Ashley Young’s brains at the start of this season about how well he had done. He certainly seems to have that Midas touch as the moment.
“We played them earlier this season and we looked at their physical stats before the game and we eclipsed them in all physical stats. On that day they ran as hard as they had run all season. So, the demands that he has put on the team has seen the players produce the numbers that is helping them get to where they are at the moment.”
Dean Smith confirmed that both Ben Gibson (back) and Billy Gilmour (ankle) are doubts for Sunday’s match.