Alex Neil aims to keep pressure off players
Norwich boss Alex Neil is refusing to put pressure on his side ahead of a crunch run of fixtures which could define their season.
The Canaries sit just above the drop zone in the Barclays Premier League and entertain 19th-placed Newcastle on Saturday with further games against fellow relegation candidates Crystal Palace and Sunderland in the next fortnight.
A 1-0 win over West Brom before the international break was Norwich's first win in 11 - having lost eight fixtures in that run.
With just seven games left, Neil is hoping to keep Norwich in the top flight having earned promotion through the play-offs last season, but does not feel the upcoming games will be the be all and end all of their campaign.
"I think they'll go a long way, but I don't think they'll define what happens," he said.
"Whether we lose or win them, there's still huge work to be done. There are still four games remaining after that, but I think it will have a huge factor on where we end up.
"It (Newcastle) is big game for us. We need to make sure we put in a performance we know we can, but more importantly we need three points,
"It's one of those finely balanced games where I think looking at the table, Newcastle probably need to win the game more than us but it would be an absolutely crucial win if we could go and get it."
Neil is yet to decide if winger Nathan Redmond will be involved after returning to training with an ankle injury.
Scotland forward Steven Naismith is available despite missing the international break with a hamstring complaint. Ryan Bennett is back having sat out the recent win at West Brom.
Another player available is on-loan Dynamo Kiev striker Dieumerci Mbokani - who was caught up in the terrorist attacks in Brussels last week.
The Democratic Republic of Congo international was at the Belgium capital's airport when a two bombs exploded last Tuesday as part of an organised attack on the city.
"Dieu's fine - I've been with him Wednesday, Thursday and Friday," Neil said of the 30-year-old.
Newcastle boss Rafael Benitez has backed Karl Darlow to plug the gap left by Rob Elliot as he tries to engineer a great escape.
Republic of Ireland international keeper Elliot is out for the season after suffering anterior cruciate ligament damage in his country's 2-2 friendly draw with Slovakia on Tuesday evening, leaving Darlow in line to play the final eight fixtures of the campaign.
Benitez said: "It's not good news, but you have to concentrate on what you can do. We have to support Darlow.
"Mentally he's right to come in, he's confident and we know he can do it. He's not played a lot of Premier League games, but he has experience in the Championship.
"We have not really done anything extra with Karl. We have another training session today and will keep an eye on him, but he's trained well."
Elliot's misfortune - he will also miss the Euro 2016 finals, where he had a chance of establishing himself as Ireland's number one keeper - struck just two games into Benitez's reign, but he revealed the 29-year-old was taking a philosophical view.
He said: "It was very bad news for us and for him, but I saw him the day after and he was quite confident he'd be back as soon as possible.
"He's very positive and I was surprised because it's a bad time for him. We have to wait and support him and hopefully he's back as soon as possible."
Benitez has something of a selection headache for the game at Carrow Road with midfielder Moussa Sissoko likely to line up at left-back in the absence of the injured Paul Dummett, Massadio Haidara and Kevin Mbabu and suspended midfielder Jack Colback, who filled in there against Sunderland.
However, the Spaniard insists nothing will be decided this weekend even in a game against one of the few clubs his side can realistically catch.
He said: "We have to be ready to do well in the last seven games after this, to try to win them. It doesn't matter who you play - Manchester City, Tottenham - you can win.
"We have to approach each game with confidence and try each time to be a little better."
Defender Fabricio Coloccini (calf) and midfielders Sylvain Marveaux and Gabriel Obertan are still missing.
Source: PAR
