Alex Neil says Norwich can surprise Manchester City
Friday 30 October 2015 15:10, UK
Norwich manager Alex Neil says there is no reason his team cannot cause a huge surprise at Manchester City on Saturday.
The Canaries have lost three straight Premier League matches and were hammered 6-2 at Newcastle on their last top-flight away trip.
Meanwhile, Manchester City lead the table on goal difference and have already accrued 13 more points than their 16th-place visitors.
However, although Neil accepts that a pragmatic approach may be required, he wants his team to approach the match with a view to gaining a positive result rather than simply as a damage limitation exercise.
"It will not be easy, they can spend £50m on one player," Neil said. "But it is what it is. We will have to go there and do the best we can.
"Our approach will have to be slightly differently than recently, as we are probably going to have to err on the side of caution, but also with an eye on causing them as many problems as we can going forwards.
"West Ham went there and got a result, and we played very well against West Ham and probably should have won, so there is no reason why we can't go and give a good account of ourselves.
"Anybody can get beat on the day. If we perform at our maximum and they under-perform, then there is no reason why we should not get something out of the match."
Norwich have improved defensively since their tough day at St James' Park, losing 1-0 to West Brom last weekend before exiting the Capital One Cup on penalties after a 1-1 draw at Everton.
"We went through a spell saying we played pretty well, but we have to put the chances we get into the net and be more resolute at the back, so it really is pretty simple," Neil added.
"We have been defensively better in the last couple of games. It will just be a case of continuing to try to play well and work hard, to pick up the points our performances in most of the games have deserved."
Midfielder Youssouf Mulumbu has recovered from pre-season foot surgery and gave the Canaries a boost by returning to competitive action at Goodison Park.
Neil said: "He is a naturally fit lad, a warrior type who is one of those that will go out and give it everything.
"What he does do is give us an energy. He is dynamic, gets stuck in, makes a few tackles and upsets a few people.
"You need to have that certain steel in your team and he certainly gives us that."
