Norwich manager Alex Neil believes the defeats for City’s relegation rivals Sunderland leaves next Saturday’s match an “ideal match” as the Canaries hope to further themselves from the drop.
City and Sunderland were both left empty-handed at the weekend after suffering defeats against Crystal Palace and Leicester City respectively, leaving just four points between the teams ahead of Saturday’s 12.45pm kick-off.
Speaking to the Eastern Daily Press after watching the defeat of the Black Cats yesterday, Neil believes it is Sam Allardyce’s side which is carrying the “extra weight”.
Sunderland is the ideal match for us because we have a chance to get ourselves further away from the relegation zone.
If you already have the points on the board, that is the important thing but of course after our defeat, Sunderland carries a bit of extra weight now.
The Scottish manager also hinted at the regret of failing to pick up points against Palace on Saturday in their 1-0 defeat after a 68th-minute Jason Puncheon goal:
We could have put a bit of distance between us. Sunderland was always going to be big, regardless of whether we won or lost. If we had won, it was going to be massive [game] for them. If we’d drawn, then the situation doesn’t really change, and if we had lost, like we have, then it was always going to be built up even bigger.
However, Neil believes it is important to keep in mind Sunderland’s 2-0 defeat at the weekend, with the result of the two teams keeping the gap the same, with the chance to extend the gap to seven points next weekend.
What happened on Sunday dictates a lot. We know it is still four [points] and we can extend it to seven.
