Norwich City head coach Dean Smith says that Sunday's FA Cup third round victory against Charlton Athletic should provide a lift ahead of the return to Premier League football.
Milot Rashica's 79th minute tap-in was enough to secure victory at The Valley in front of 2,260 City fans.
"I thought we started quite well and looked quite bright on the ball in the first five or ten minutes, and then we got involved in a scrap which suited Charlton more than us and our performance for the final 30 minutes of the first half wasn't good enough," Smith told canaries.co.uk.
"The changes made a difference with better quality on the pitch, and that showed with the goal at the end, so I'm really pleased that we got through to the next round and broke off from the cycle of defeats.
"It should give everyone a lift but our performance levels need to be better. We knew it was going to be hard."
City struggled to create chances in the first half, forcing Smith to introduce Brandon Williams, Rashica and Teemu Pukki at half-time.
"We always wanted to get Milot some minutes today and to get Teemu on as well," he said. Grant got through 90, which is great. We had to have a balancing act in terms of who played, who started and who came on.
"It was a bit of a risk to bring Milot on at half-time because there was the possibility of going through to extra-time, but it's a good 45 minutes for him and he should be pushing now for West Ham.
"We know we have to do much better against West Ham, but we also knew that this was going to be a tough place to come. It's a tough surface and some of the challenges lifted their supporters and got them into the game.
While he was disappointed with the majority of the first half performance, Smith was encouraged by his side's chance creation in the second 45.
"Our quality on the ball was better," he said. "We played it into spaces and had some better passing movements and patterns of play. I thought it was going to sum us up when Pierre put Kenny through and he tripped over the ball, but we managed to get the goal at the end.
"I thought we had the better chances in the second half. I know they hit the bar at the end, but they were always looking for fouls for set-pieces to put the ball into our box and make it a challenge.
"The referee was a little bit lenient at times. Tim came to take the ball and the lad took him out and didn't even get a caution for it. I'd like more protection for the goalkeeper for that, but we had to get through to the fourth round.
"That was important and we've done that. Let's see where that can take us now."
For the City fans who made the trip to south London, Sunday's win felt like a long time coming, and Smith was pleased for the supporters to travel home with Norwich into the fourth round.
"It's been a tough Christmas period with some tough results," he said. "I still stand by what I say - the last three games have been tough for us with a decimated squad. The Manchester United game was more of what we are about.
"Today was just about getting through so I'm really pleased for the supporters. We'll need them on the journey now."