Norwich must turn home form around quickly - Stacey

Jack Stacey's goal against Wrexham was his first for Norwich City since April

Norwich City defender Jack Stacey said the team must find a way to quickly turn their home form around if they are to have a successful season.

Stacey marked his 100th game for the Canaries by scoring against Wrexham on Saturday, but they lost 3-2, with the Welsh club's goals all coming in a seven-minute period early in the second half.

Norwich have lost all four matches at Carrow Road in league and cup under locally born head coach Liam Manning.

"He's a manager that left a team that finished in the play-offs last season to come and join Norwich. Me looking at that, it speaks volumes about how much he believes in this club and what we can build," Stacey, 29, told BBC Radio Norfolk.

"The players we recruited, they came in because they believe this is a club that can fight to try and get into the Premier League. That's the expectation everyone has. But it's very easy to talk and a lot harder to go and show it on the pitch."

Stacey, who joined Norwich from Bournemouth in 2023, said there is currently no "stand-out" team in the Championship, but they cannot afford to be so "passive" as they were after the break against Hollywood-backed Wrexham.

"I remember in my first year here, we went on such a good run at home and that was the basis of taking us into the play-offs. So we definitely have to work on that, we don't want to be playing in front of the fans here and not giving them anything to cheer about," he added.

"OK, we've got some good results on the road, but for the basis of a good season, you have to get the results at home.

"We have amazing away support but the majority of the fans can't get to all the away games, and some of them haven't seen us win this year so that affects them, it affects the atmosphere round the club, and it's something we want to change."

Norwich are 14th in the table and away to second-placed Stoke City on Saturday, with their next home game against West Bromwich Albion on 1 October.

After that there is the first East Anglian derby of the season away to Ipswich Town, a lunchtime kick-off on 5 October.

Stacey said: "I look at the Championship as a whole and there's no real stand-out team at the moment. They might emerge, of course, but it feels like there's a real opportunity.

"It's definitely not too late [for us] but we do need to be quick in terms of turning things around [at home] because a lot of teams, we feel like we can go there and get a result.

"The quality is high throughout, but because there's no real stand-out. That presents an opportunity for everybody."

Stacey did not reach 100 appearances for Bournemouth or previous club Luton Town and said he was proud of the milestone with Norwich.

"Three or four years ago I was picking up a lot of muscle injuries. I almost had to go away and rebuild everything I do off the pitch to make sure I could be on it for as long as possible. It's testament to the people I have around me to keep me fit," he added.