- Clement has banned any play-off talk within the Norwich dressing room.
- He insists Southampton face more pressure due to ‘parachute’ advantages.
- City travel to St Mary’s chasing a fifth consecutive victory on Wednesday night.
Clement is uninterested in your play-off ready reckoners.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference on Tuesday, the Norwich City head coach batted away questions about a potential charge for the top six ahead of tonight’s trip to Southampton.
His message was blunt: discussions around league positions have no place inside his dressing room, and the focus remains solely on winning the next game.
City sit 12th in the Championship on 51 points from 37, six behind seventh-placed Southampton. Four consecutive league victories, with two goals scored in each, have dragged the Canaries into the fringes of the conversation.
This provides context for the question – and Paddy (Davitt) had to ask it – even if the main man had no intention of engaging with it.
Pressure belongs at St Mary’s
Clement was more forthcoming when asked about the dynamic between the two clubs. He made it clear he believes all of the pressure falls on Southampton, not City.
As ever, his reasoning was blunt. Southampton have parachute payments, recent Premier League experience, and a squad assembled with a budget that dwarfs most of the division (apart from Ipswich).
Those advantages create an expectation of promotion that simply doesn’t apply to his City side, which was, of course, ensconced in a relegation battle before Clement arrived.
Southampton, managed by Tonda Eckert, sit just outside the play-off places despite the financial cushion that comes with dropping out of the top flight. They are unbeaten in 12 matches across all competitions, including a 2-1 win at league leaders Coventry City last Saturday, and have kept clean sheets in three of their last four home games.
City, by contrast, have earned their current league position the hard way. Clement has overseen 10 wins from 15 since taking charge, turning a squad that looked destined for trouble into one capable of winning at the King Power, at the Racecourse Ground, and at The Hawthorns.
But the Belgian has no interest in letting his players think beyond tonight.
Fitness concerns travel south
Clement confirmed that City will be without a significant chunk of his squad again. The club has been dealing with somewhere between 12 and 16 players either out or doubtful in recent weeks, including long-term absentees Ante Crnac and Mirko Topic (both ACL injuries).
Left-back Ben Chrisene (hamstring) and centre-back Ruairi McConville (knee) are both late calls. Goalkeeper Dan Grimshaw misses out with a calf issue, meaning that Louie Moulden will be Vladan Kovacevic’s deputy.
Southampton have their own problems. Ross Stewart and Leo Scienza are doubts after missing the Coventry match, while Alex McCarthy, Mads Roerslev, and Welington remain sidelined.
What a win would mean
Clement will not say it, so here it is in numbers: a City win at St Mary’s would cut the gap to three points with eight games remaining. That would put us within touching distance of the play-off places for the first time this season.
Whether the head coach acknowledges that publicly is beside the point.
The Championship table will still be there after full-time, and we can either dream of consign oursleves to another season in the second tier. .
