Norwich City

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Norwich City midfielder Anis Ben Slimane says work towards finishing in a top-six spot in the Championship next season "starts now".

A run of just two wins in the past 12 games has seen the Canaries' hopes of reaching the play-offs in this campaign drift away.

A 2-1 defeat by Burnley on Friday left Johannes Hoff Thorup's side nine points off sixth with only 12 points to play for, meaning it is now almost mathematically impossible.

"We met a team that was better than us and, hopefully, we can learn from them for the next four games and take that with us to finish off the season really well to be ready for next season because our ambition is definitely to be in the top six," Slimane told BBC Radio Norfolk.

"Every player has pride. It's not about 'oh, we didn't make it to the top six, now we have nothing to play for really'.

"No, we've got fans travelling and they come to support us and we have to show them that even though we can't give them top six, we will still work really hard to get three points and make them happy.

"As a football player, you always have to be ready for the next task and right now it's maybe hard and looks a bit dark.

"But we need to take the positive things from this season and finish off the season really well with the last four games.

"We have an ambition to be a top team in this league and that starts from now."

Norwich host relegation-threatened Portsmouth on Good Friday, 18 April, before a trip to face play-off chasing Millwall on Easter Monday, 21 April.

Listen to Anis Ben Slimane's full interview on BBC Sounds.

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Norwich manager Johannes Hoff Thorup says his side's poor first-half performance meant they could not execute their desired game plan against Burnley.

The Canaries conceded two early goals, and despite being one of few sides to score against Scott Parker's side in the second half, could not manage a late equaliser.

"We simply have to avoid the first goal," Thorup told BBC Radio Norfolk. "It's not good enough defensively, our back line is all over the place.

"The second goal, we gave away a free-kick in our own half, pass it straight to them and they score from a deflected shot, that's more difficult to avoid.

"That left us in a bad position, so I am not satisfied with that, it wasn't part of the plan.

"The second half was really, really strong. When we got the goal we gave them a final push without creating final chances."

Defeat for Norwich almost certainly ends their chances of a play-off place. They remain nine points off the top six with four matches left.

Burnley can steal a march on their promotion rivals with a point at home to Norwich enough to send them top of the Championship table ahead of the weekend games.

Norwich know only a win would keep alive their slim chances of gatecrashing the top six.

• Burnley have won their past three league games against Norwich City, last winning four in succession against the Canaries between 2006 and 2007.

• Norwich City have won just one of their 20 away league games against Burnley (D4 L15), failing to score in 14 of those matches at Turf Moor.

• Burnley have kept 29 clean sheets in their 41 Championship games this season. They are now just one clean sheet away from matching the all-time seasonal Football League record of 30, set by Port Vale in the 1953-54 third division north.

• Since defeating Derby 3-2 in September, Norwich have won just two of their past 16 away league games (D6 L8) – 1-0 victories against Luton and Watford.

• Burnley have been involved in 12 goalless draws in the Championship this season; only Blackpool in 1974-75 (13) have ever had more 0-0s in a single Football League season.

Norwich City right-back Kellan Fisher says the side were concentrating on not conceding during their goalless draw with Sunderland on Tuesday.

The Canaries had lost three of their previous four matches, including a 2-1 defeat by bottom side Plymouth Argyle at the weekend.

"I think it was important just coming in and not losing," Fisher told BBC Radio Norfolk.

"We got it right - the attacking balance and we had enough numbers behind when we did lose the ball."

The stalemate was enough to see Sunderland secure themselves a play-off place. But the Canaries' play-off chances look slim.

Seven points separate Norwich and the top six, with just five games left to play.

"I think we all know we are good enough to be in or around the play-offs, and personally I think we should," Fisher added.

"I think we've showed this season we are a great team, we are free flowing and playing good football."

Listen to the full post-match reaction and more on The Scrimmage podcast.

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Norwich head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup felt his team had done enough to earn a victory over Sunderland after they were held to a goalless draw.

"We hoped for a win and did more than enough, especially in the first half, to get it. I'm pleased with our first-half dominance. We didn't allow one shot and we created enough to score," the Canaries head coach told BBC Radio Norfolk.

"I'm not satisfied that we didn't convert some of those moments into goals, and the second half was a little bit more open and they were probably a little bit on top in the last 10 minutes.

"We have been talking a lot about [clean sheets] this season and what it takes to do that away from home and against the better teams in the league, and what it takes to convert those chances into more goals, so there's a lot of work to do in the future.

"But I'm pleased with the overall attitude of the players."

"You've got to look at it from where we've come from, which is a team that really tried to establish themselves in the Premier League and failed miserably on several occasions.

"But we are the most yo-yo club out of all the teams in England, so two or three years [to win promotion] is a long wait for Norwich fans.

"You need to be looking at next year being competitive in those play-offs."

BBC Radio Norwich's Rob Butler says the Canaries have to push for a top six finish next season.

He's joined by Chris Reeve as they reflect on the Plymouth defeat, discuss what the future holds for Norwich and look ahead to the Sunderland game on Tuesday (19:45 BST).

Listen to the latest episode of the The Scrimmage podcast on BBC Sounds.

Norwich City host Sunderland on Tuesday (19:45 BST) in a bid to gain some ground in the play-off race.

A run of lacklustre results has left the Canaries eight points adrift of the top six, winning just one of their past six league matches (D2 L3).

While, the Black Cats are as many points behind a place in the automatic promotion spots but recent form may have them feeling there's an outside chance of stealing one away after two successive league wins.

• Norwich have lost three of their last four league games against Sunderland (W1), as many as their previous 11 beforehand (W5 D3 L3).

• After their 2-1 win in December, Sunderland could record a first league double over Norwich City since 1984-85 in the top-flight under Len Ashurst.

• Norwich's home games in the Championship this season have seen 72 goals (45 for, 27 against) at an average of 3.6 per game. Only in 1962-63 (4.1) and 2018-19 (3.7) have their home matches produced a higher average over a league campaign.

• Sunderland are unbeaten in their last 11 midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) league games (W5 D6) since a 0-1 defeat to Leicester City in March 2024.

• Norwich's Josh Sargent has scored in both of his two league starts against Sunderland, netting in August 2022 and March 2024.

Rob Butler
BBC Radio Norfolk Canary Call presenter

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Norwich City's slim hopes of making the Championship play-offs took a huge dent on Saturday as they were beaten at bottom club Plymouth.

On Tuesday, the Canaries are back at Carrow Road to host Sunderland (19:45 BST), who are almost guaranteed to finish in the top six.

Ahead of the game, City head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup has been speaking to the media.

Here are some of the key points:

• After the game against Plymouth, on-loan Manchester City midfielder Jacob Wright said he wanted to make his move to the club permanent in the summer. Thorup says no decisions have been made but the Canaries are in a "strong position" to sign him.

• After winger Matej Jurasek missed the Plymouth game with a quad injury, Thorup says he is not sure when he will be available again. "I would love to bring him in and give him some playing minutes." Thorup says there is hope that Jurasek could still play a part in this campaign.

• Defender Lucien Mahovo is still absent, he now has a knee injury.

• Midfielder Liam Gibbs should be "around the squad" for the Sunderland game after being out injured since November.

• Thorup wants to see his team become more effective from set-pieces. "We have scored more than 60 goals this season and only three of them have come from corner kicks, this should be close to 20," he said.

• Thorup said that clear objectives were set in recent meetings with the club owners in the US. He says he fully believes the team will be where it should be in six months.

You can listen to full live commentary of Norwich City v Sunderland with BBC Radio Norfolk FM and DAB from 19:00 BST on Tuesday.

Image source, Rex Features

Norwich City head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup says he is unhappy with how his side defended in their 2-1 loss at struggling Plymouth Argyle.

The defeat by the Championship's bottom side leaves the Canaries in 11th place, eight points off the play-off places with six games to play.

"It sums up our weakness as a team - and that's to defend all those situations where the ball is brought into the box from the opposition, second ball situations, third ball situations we really, really struggle as a team to defend that," he told BBC Radio Norfolk:

"It tells a bit of a story because up until the first goal we have the control of the game exactly as we want, we created an amount of situations in the box and had a couple of crosses where were very close to getting a foot or head to it.

"Then it's probably the first situation around our goal and they score a goal, and that's been the story of the season.

"I'm tired that our defensive line cannot keep troubles away."

Plymouth's battle for Championship survival continues with the visit of play-off chasing Norwich to Home Park on Saturday (15:00 BST).

Basement-boys Argyle are effectively eight points from safety, such is their inferior goal difference, with seven games remaining after Derby's win over Preston on Wednesday night.

The Canaries' last-gasp win over West Brom on Saturday took them back into the top-10 and within five points of the play-off spots.

• Plymouth Argyle have lost five of their past six league games against Norwich, winning the other 6-2 at Home Park last season.

• Norwich won 6-1 earlier this campaign against Plymouth at Carrow Road. The last time the Canaries scored 10 league goals against an opponent in a season was against Millwall in 2014-15 (10).

• Across their past 13 home games in all competitions, Plymouth's only clean sheet came against current Premier League leaders Liverpool in a 1-0 FA Cup win in February.

• Of Norwich's last 36 Championship goals, only six have them been scored away from home. Just 26% of their goals have been scored on the road (16/61) with only Plymouth scoring a lower percentage away (8/40, 20%).

• Josh Sargent has scored nine goals in his past 11 Championship appearances for Norwich and overall he's scored 42 in 93 games at this level – the only Canaries player with more since 2004-05 is Teemu Pukki (65).

Image source, PA Media

Norwich City head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup has been speaking to the media ahead of the trip to Plymouth on Saturday (15:00 BST).

The Canaries are five points behind the Championship play-off spots in 10th. Here are some of the key points from Thorup's press conference:

• On the race to try and reach the top six: "We still know there is a very, very hard and difficult job to do to make it even more realistic but it starts with the next game."

• Thorup continued: "We definitely believe in ourselves because we think we are a good team and when we are at our best, we should be a team that can compete for play-off positions. Now we're in a little bit more difficult position but it's just a challenge and we are up for that."

• There are no fresh injury concerns following the 1-0 win over West Bromwich Albion.

• Matej Jurasek continues to improve his strength and conditioning work to be Championship ready after missing five games with a thigh strain before returning to the bench last weekend.

• Manchester City loanee Callum Doyle remains at Carrow Road despite suffering an injury. It's hoped he will be able to play a part in the final few games of the season.

• Thorup praised goalkeeper Angus Gunn's performance on Saturday. He said: "The two moments in the game we really needed him - he was there."

• On bottom side Plymouth, Thorup says he's expecting a team who are very difficult to break down: "It's for us to find the right balance so we can make good chances."

• "Now it's clear who's fighting to stay in the league so it will not be an easy game for us," said Thorup.

• On the fans making the journey: "I was impressed even in pre-season with the amount of fans who travel to see us. It's impressive. Every time we play away we try and give them something to shout about and we appreciate them."

You can listen to full live coverage of Plymouth v Norwich on BBC Radio Norfolk from 14:00 BST on Saturday.

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Listen to The Scrimmage podcast on BBC Sounds.

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Norwich City forward Josh Sargent says he is not "definitely leaving" at the end of the season.

The USA international scored a 92nd-minute winner against West Bromwich Albion on Saturday as the Canaries ended a four-game winless run to keep alive their Championship play-off hopes and then looked to calm talk of an imminent exit from Carrow Road.

"It's my favourite goal of the season so far - just for the timing of it against a good opponent and it's the most relief I've had scoring a goal this season for sure," Sargent told BBC Radio Norfolk.

The 25-year-old is under contract until 2028 but has been linked with a move to the Premier League and also a potential reunion with former Norwich boss Daniel Farke at Leeds.

"I have a contract here at Norwich. I'm very happy, my family is very happy here so it's no way saying I'm gone," said Sargent.

"I'm very happy with the manager and the team. I was just trying to say there will be options but that's not to say I'm definitely leaving - that's a decision for my family and me to make and obviously the club has to agree to me leaving in the first place."

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There is also a look ahead to the Canaries' trip to Plymouth on Saturday as the panel are joined by Argyle fan Aaron Hocking.

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Listen to The Scrimmage podcast on BBC Sounds.