Alex Neil optimistic Norwich City can avoid relegation on Arsenal showing
Saturday 30 April 2016 21:43, UK
Alex Neil believes Norwich can avoid relegation if they replicate the performance shown in Saturday's narrow defeat to Arsenal for the rest of the season.
The Canaries have just three games of the season to play in which to save their top-flight status after Danny Welbeck's 59th-minute winner left them second-bottom in the Premier League.
"We performed really well," Neil told Saturday Night Football. "We had good opportunities, particularly in the first half where Nathan Redmond pulled three saves out of Petr Cech.
"We looked the more likely to score, our game plan worked well, we frustrated Arsenal and limited a really good side to very little in the game.
"I thought we also looked dangerous on the break. (However) For five minutes we allowed the game to become ragged and stretched and they got the goal in that period, which was disappointing.
Ask whether more could have been done to prevent the Welbeck's goal, Neil added: "Yes. The last thing we wanted to do was to let the game become stretched.
"We were nice and compact, we were moving in units in defence and midfield apart from that spell where there were distances between us, and that caused us problems."
Newcastle's victory over Crystal Palace and Sunderland's last-gasp draw at Stoke earlier on Saturday left the Canaries needing to secure a positive result at the Emirates.
They were, however, unable to find a way through the Arsenal defence, despite Neil admitting he was pleased with several of his attacking players.
"We needed to go more direct into the front players," he said. "Wes Hoolahan played really well but he was beginning to tire.
"I thought the presence of (Dieumerci) Mbokani and (Cameron) Jerome - with one going up to challenge with the other going in behind - would cause them problems and it did."
Neil's men welcome Manchester United and Watford to Carrow Road in their next two outings before ending their campaign away to Everton.
And the Scot was optimistic his side were still in with a chance of avoiding the drop, adding: "It has always been a massive fight.
"If we perform as well as we did today and produce three performances like that then we will pick up points."
