IVO Pinto says Norwich City are determined to become harder to score against ahead of their Sky Bet Championship meeting with Preston North End at Carrow Road on Saturday (3pm).

The Canaries' recent good run of form has come despite a propensity to concede goals, having not kept a clean sheet in the league since mid-August.

An attacking approach has seen them net 26 times already this season however - second only to Newcastle United - and Pinto told the media on Friday: "We are focused on the game and are looking to do better defensively.

"We are winning most of our games so will take the positives from that. The only bad thing is we are conceding too many goals, which we know.

"It's something we're aware of, and we're not doing as well as we should be. As a team, we are playing good football and we want to keep our net unbreakable.

"Our objective is to get to the Premier League so every time we train we have to work hard. You have to focus and have in your mind that keeping a clean sheet brings you closer to winning.

"We are trying to get the perfect picture as offensively we are playing very well. We're just missing the clean sheet, and we must work harder to get it."

The City right-back also credited the backing his side gets, both home and away, as a cornerstone of their strong overall start to the campaign.

"The fans have been amazing to me and to all the team," he added.

"When you go to play at Fulham on a Tuesday night and see our supporters there, it's amazing. This is one of the best club's I've been at because of the atmosphere our supporters make; it's beautiful.

"In every game, we play with twelve, not just eleven. I'm enjoying every single moment and trying to improve myself defensively game-by-game and in every training session.

"Going forward I am strong, so it's been a challenge for me but it's helping me to evolve as a player and get better. The best is yet to come."

Sign up to Canaries PlayerHD to watch the full pre-Preston press conferences with Ivo Pinto and City boss Alex Neil.

PINTO PREVIEW: IVO ON PRESTON

More Match Previews

#NCFC

Principal Partners

Primary Partners