Philippe Clement says Norwich City must embrace the demands of the Championship as they prepare to face Bolton Wanderers at Carrow Road on Sunday afternoon.
The Canaries return home following Thursday night's trip to Manchester, with Clement discussing the quick turnaround, squad fitness and the upcoming international break.
Norwich face a short turnaround after their midweek fixture, but Clement insists there will be no excuses ahead of Sunday's 1.30pm kick-off.
“We came back from Manchester around 1.30am here at the training ground, then went home, trying to sleep,” he said.
“The next day the players came in two hours later than normal to give them some extra sleep, but it's hard to sleep after a game for most of the players.
“They had recovery, the guys who played most minutes, the others had a training session. Today, normal-time training session this morning and then ready for tomorrow again.”
Clement believes adapting to this rhythm is essential for any side hoping to succeed in the Championship.
“If you want to play in this league and you want to be successful, you need to be there every two days,” he said.
The head coach made a number of changes in midweek to ensure players remained fresh, with further decisions to be made after assessing the squad.
“In general, good,” he said. “There are still a few niggles after the game, so I will have to make some decisions tomorrow and see how people wake up and come to the club a little bit earlier to assess them if they are ready for the game or not.”
Clement is also planning carefully for the unusually long international break which follows Sunday's game.
“Some played a lot and are in a really good spot,” he said. “They will train, of course, in those three weeks, but they will have some recovery in between.
“There are others who are just coming back. I think the likes of Jovon [Makama], for example, he will have less than the others and will have more work to do in that period.
“And we will play a friendly game on the Friday, the week before we restart. We play a friendly game against a Premier League team, also to keep game rhythm and to give minutes to all the players who are here.”
Clement admits he is not a fan of the extended break, but believes the club must make the most of the situation.
“I'm not a fan for the moment because it really breaks for a long time your rhythm or the things that you want to implement with the team,” he said.
“We're still integrating players and suddenly they are three weeks out of the building and they will hear other things about football, other tactics, other ways of playing, other preparation, so you don't have any control of it.
“But we need to adapt. It's of no use to waste energy because whatever I say it will not change anything. So let's take the most out of this situation.”
Clement feels Norwich could have taken significantly more points from their opening matches, but knows results ultimately remain the measure.
“Not in points, for sure not,” he said. “I think also with the performance that the team gave, we could have had five, six points more than you're top of the league now.
“In football it's about getting the points, so that stays an important part. We need to keep on pushing to get the points to our side.”
The head coach is also pleased with the increased availability within his squad and is looking forward to returning to Carrow Road.
“It's still Championship. It's a hard battle,” he said. “Every game is a battle. You need to be on your toes and to use your qualities to push the result to your side.”
"I'm really happy to go back to Carrow Road now and to feel the energy of our fans. Our away fans always give good energy, but It's different at home.
"It was really good, the Birmingham game, you felt the fire with the fans, you felt how they pushed the players.
"In the difficult moments where Birmingham was putting a lot of balls into the box without creating much, but this extra energy helped. I'm looking really forward to go back to Carrow Road and to feel that again."
Clement expects a competitive test from Bolton, who are back in the Championship after promotion.
“They're really competitive,” he said. “They're a good team. On the ball also, it's not a team that plays direct all the time. They try to find a good balance between keeping the ball and being direct in moments.
“They have good wingers with a good action, a strong striker, a number 10 with a lot of running capacity, good sixes on the ball, defenders also comfortable on the ball, goalkeeper also.
“So they're a good team and they deserve to be in the league. For sure what I've seen until now, they will not get in trouble to go down again.”