JAMIE Eaton-Collins says keeping team spirit high will be vital for Norwich City's Under-21s as they aim to end a run of six defeats in a row.

The Canaries return to action on Monday night as they host Manchester United in the Barclays Under-21s Premier League (7pm).

All supporters can once again gain FREE entry to Carrow Road, a scheme that has continually attracted significant crowds to back City's next generation of players.

"You’ve just got to keep your head high, stick together and pull through the hard times, which is what we’ve been doing in preparation," Eaton-Collins told canaries.co.uk ahead of the match.

"Defensively we need to tighten up the gaps and going forward we need to create more and score more, to take the pressure off the defence and give the strikers some confidence.

"It has to be better. We know it ourselves and we need to keep going as we are because we’re confident in ourselves, we’ve got to keep building."

6,684 supporters watched the Canaries in their last match at Carrow Road against Tottenham in October, and Eaton-Collins is hopeful for similar backing this time around.

"It’s massive support having the fans, it makes a massive difference with them singing and cheering and geeing us up. It really does help - they're the twelfth man," he added.

"We understand that Man Utd are a top team; we need to stick together and grind out a result.

"We want to develop, but at the same time to develop we need to get results, to build our confidence that we can play better and express ourselves. Results and development go hand in hand."

The 19-year-old is relishing his run in the team after an injury-troubled 18 months that saw him miss out on a valuable year of development in 2014-15.

"I’ve just got to keep that going until the end of the season. I’m feeling a lot fitter, a lot sharper, so I’m just hoping that can start to reflect on performances in the team," he said.

CANARIES' FORM
L - 0-5 v Middlesbrough (H) 17/11/2015 - Barclays U21s Premier League
L - 4-1 v Brighton (A) 12/11/2015 - Barclays U21s Premier League Cup
L - 1-0 v Manchester City (A) 08/11/2015 - Barclays U21s Premier League
L - 2-0 v Reading (A) 26/10/2015 - Barclays U21s Premier League
L - 2-1 v Leicester City (A) 20/10/2015 - Premier League International Cup

LAST NORWICH CITY U21s XI (vs Middlesbrough)
Kean; Syme, Norman, Efete (c), Lewis; Grant, McGrandles, King (McIntosh 84); Eaton-Collins (Ashley Seal 78), Loza, Middleton. Subs not used: Killip (GK), Ellesley.

U21s PREVIEW: MANCHESTER UNITED

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