Norwich City right-back Max Aarons is full of confidence going into Friday night’s Premier League fixture against Watford.
The Canaries are just one point behind Claudio Ranieri’s side following last weekend’s 2-1 win at home to Everton.
“It’s a big game,” Aarons told Premier League Productions. “Everyone knows that, we know that. Equally, Everton was a huge game for us as well. We went into it knowing what was riding on the game.
“If we nail down what we need to do and go in with our game plan that the manager sets us up with and we do as well as I know we can play, we have enough to go there and beat them. We know the size of the task, but we know that we can 100 percent achieve it. I’m really looking forward to it and I’m really optimistic.”
Daniel Farke and Xisco Munoz were in the dugouts at Carrow Road last time we met, Watford winning 3-1 in September.
“I wouldn’t look to the game that we played previously against them too much because there have been two changes in manager since then,” Aarons said. “We’ve had personnel changes as well in both squads, so I think it was a very different game than what it’s going to be on Friday.
“We’ve got to look at where they are and where the team is and have a good look at them this week, as we have done already, and the way their manager wants to set them up.
“Our squad is very talented and if we focus on ourselves and nail down our game plan then we can go there and hurt them. The main thing that has to come out of it is that we believe. We can go there and setup how we want, but we have to believe that we can go and win the game, as we did against Everton.”
Should Norwich win on Friday, back-to-back victories will see them rise out of the relegation zone for the first time this season.
“Momentum is key in football,” Aarons said. “When you win a game, it’s easier to bounce into the next one and get the three points again. The hardest part was getting those first three points after the run of games that we were on and we’ve done that now.
“We definitely need to go into this game and strive to get those three points because I believe we can and it’s massively important. Bouncing from game to game and hopefully picking up back-to-back wins will be excellent for us.
“Anyone who expected that it wouldn’t be a battle and a fight is definitely wrong and we’ve known that from the start of the season. We have to really dig deep to stay in this league.
“The main word is belief and I firmly believed that we could go into the Everton game and win the other day and I’m sure everyone in our squad and management team fully believed that as well. We have to do exactly the same against Watford, fully believe that we can go there and win, and let the rest take care of itself.
“Even with the form that we were in before the game, having lost the games we did, we always believed and knew that we were still in and around it. We’ve still got a lot of fight left in us and still were mathematically in with a shout of the teams around us and getting around them.
“That win has only boosted that and taken us three points closer to our goal. It was massive that we did that. We’d like to be higher in the table and looking up, but we’re on track now and with another three points against Watford, which we fully believe we can do, that’s our main aim.”
‘They wrote us off. They always do. But here we are.’ That’s one of the slogans that adorns the Player’s Lounge at Carrow Road, one that is apt in the days surrounding victory against Everton.
“The manager had said to us during the week that there is pressure but everyone has written us off already,” Aarons added. “That was a fact. People from the outside have said ‘that’s Norwich.’ People were talking about other teams being in the battle and we weren’t getting mentioned, so to do that has put us back in people’s heads and realising that we’re not down and out at all.
“We’re firmly in this battle and in this fight. Every player is motivated and fully believes that we can get out of it. Those three points were absolutely huge for the confidence and everything that we’ve been trying to do, so it’s brilliant.”
On a personal level, the 22-year-old recently made his 150th appearance in a Norwich City shirt, and Aarons’ appetite for more still goes strong.
“I’m massively enjoying every second of playing for this club,” he said. “It’s an absolute honour. No matter if it’s my debut or my 150th appearance, that feeling is still the same to wear the shirt.
“There have been ups and downs along the way and I’m sure that will continue, but I’m firmly in this fight this season and we know the task we’ve got at hand.
“For me, it’s amazing to get to 150 games, but now I want 200, 250 and so on, so I’m really grateful and honoured to have hit that milestone. Now I just want more and I want more success within that.
“Going forward is one of my main assets, attacking from right-back. Since the new manager has come in, it’s important for me to contribute to the team with more assists and chipping in with goals as well, so I want to get into areas where I can effect the game, effect the scoreline and really put my marker down because, if you look at the best full-backs nowadays, they score goals and get a lot of assists. That’s something I’m massively looking to develop on.
“Before the season started, I wanted to improve defensively and I think I’ve done that, but I want to keep improving going forward and start really effecting games with some assists and goals. That helps the team out, helps me, and that’s one thing that I’m looking to develop each day in training.
“Dean has been really good for me. It’s a new pair of eyes and new ideas. It’s really helped me and given me a breath of fresh air. He’s told me what he wants and expects from me and he’s trying to improve me as a player as well, so that’s really good.”