Daniel Farke knows some may look back on Norwich City’s Premier League quest as a series of missed opportunities. But he is not ready to accept a one way ticket back to the Championship.
Farke cited the Carrow Road home tussle with Wolves as evidence of both the upside and downside to what the Canaries are capable of producing in the top flight this season.
City swarmed all over the Europa League hopefuls but found Rui Patricio in inspired form and paid a heavy price when Wolves roared back after the interval in a 2-1 home defeat.
"One of the reasons I was so annoyed after the first game was because we created chances against a side who usually don't give many away," he said. "It felt like we created more chances against them than any other team in the league so far.
"We dominated the game. We were fantastic but we missed an unbelievable amount of chances.
"The game should have been buried at half-time and then just one situation with a set piece that looped to the back post and we were not switched on in our positioning.
"Small details in football can sometimes change the world but we can take strength from that type of game.
"Everyone writes us off at the moment because there is already a gap, and many people will say it's impossible to do this, but a performance like the Wolves game proved anything is possible if you can use your chances."
Farke does not expect any assistance from a midweek Europa League outing for Nuno Espirito Santo's squad, who hammered Espanyol 4-0 at Molineux.
"They are used to playing in this rhythm," he said. "They had a home game, they didn't have to travel, they are used to this schedule so I don't think there is any real advantage. They were fantastic on Thursday.
"It's a team playing in Europe, that says a lot, and playing a really good Premier League season. They have kept three clean sheets, they have top class players, a good structure and it's unbelievably difficult to break them down.
"I don't see any easy fixture for us at this stage, but it's more important we focus on our topics and if we are capable to do this then we have a chance wherever we go. We have a chance at Wolves."
Sam Byram is out for the season with a hamstring injury and Christoph Zimmermann (hamstring) is a major doubt for Sunday. Ben Godfrey is on standby after being an unused substitute against Liverpool on his return from suspension.
"It was good to have Ben back as an option," said Farke. "That was not too big a call because he was out for 10 weeks, more or less, and to bring him into a game where he has to defend probably more than any other game this season would not have been fair on him.
"We had fantastic options with Christoph and Grant Hanley.
"I'm always tempted to bring Ben back in and if he's on his top level there's no question he is a big player for us. But even top players sometimes have to wait when they have been out with injury."
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