The reset button has been pressed at Norwich City and now Dean Smith and his players have their minds set on proving they can compete in the Premier League.
After a strange spell of postponements, injuries and illnesses, five players returned to action at Charlton on Sunday and now Smith wants to see signs of a fightback, starting at West Ham tonight.
“I felt when the Leicester game got cancelled that we could actually press the reset button and refresh ourselves,” said the City boss.
“We got the victory, which is what we needed, against Charlton, and now it’s some real intense football.
“A really strong West Ham team and a tough game to play but we have to travel with belief. We’ve got some big players back for us, which is good, and then we’ve got Everton at home on Saturday and then Watford.
“So it’s a really vital three games for us and the players are ready for it.”
That trip to survival rivals Watford on Friday week could well prove a pivotal evening for hopes of remaining legitimate challengers in the battle against the drop.
“We need to get a mini table at the bottom of the league and try to win that mini table,” Smith continued.
“We need to start winning games, it helps when players start coming back, but unfortunately we’ve just lost Billy Gilmour for a couple of weeks and that’s how football works at times.
“We need to start winning to give ourselves a chance.”
Gilmour has returned to Chelsea for assessment on an ankle injury that is likely to keep him out until the start of next month but Todd Cantwell was expected to train on Tuesday and be in contention for the game.
There were no fresh concerns after Sunday but centre-backs Andrew Omobamidele (back) and Christoph Zimmermann (ankle) and midfielders Lukas Rupp (hamstring) and Mathias Normann are not back in contention yet.
The trip to Wolves in the FA Cup fourth round a couple of weeks after the Watford game could provide an ideal time for those players and Gilmour to return, potentially, but ending a miserable run of five top-flight defeats without a goal is the short-term focus.
“Nobody expects us to go and do anything at the moment. We have to put our own expectations on ourselves,” Smith added.
“There’s got to be a work rate, a togetherness. That’s the most important thing at the minute, getting our supporters on our side and that togetherness in the dressing room because that can certainly pull you through.”
Those demands will need to be met tonight against an impressive West Ham team that are flying high in fifth after some remarkable progress under David Moyes, with Smith counting the former Manchester United and Everton boss as a friend, playing golf with the Scot last summer.
“I think it’s been 18 months now when everyone can be impressed with the job they’ve done and the job that Moyesy has done there,” he continued.
“They’re an excellent team and I’ve said before that when you go to a place and you pretty much know what the team is going to be before you go there, you know that they are on a good run because they keep a similar 11.
“It’s going to be testing as the season goes on for them and Dave has already said that, about fighting on all fronts.
“They got to the quarter-finals of the League Cup, they’re in the last 16 of the Europa League and they’ve just won in the FA Cup as well, so they’ve got loads of games coming up and he’s going to have a balancing act in terms of his squad.”
The 50-year-old has happy memories of securing survival at the London Stadium with a 1-1 draw on the final day of 2019-20 season but tonight (7.45pm kick-off) will be his first experience of fans being inside the arena.
He did make the trip to Arsenal last month to see the Hammers beaten 2-0 though, in a game that saw right-back Vladimir Coufal sent off in the 67th minute.
Smith said Declan Rice was “excellent” that night and described the England mdfielder as “a driving force" with “top quality” - acknowledging that his midfielders need to step up against the powerful Rice and Tomas Soucek.
“I think we need to build better, we need to make ourselves available and build through the thirds,” he explained.
“With Kenny (McLean) and Pierre (Lees-Melou) you’ve got people that will go and battle for second balls but we’ve got to be better on the ball at moments and I certainly feel that our midfield area can create and score more goals as well.
“So that’s an expectation that I’ll be putting on them.”
The hosts have lost attacking midfielder Said Benrahma to Africa Cup of Nations duty with Algeria and defenders Kurt Zouma (hamstring), Angelo Ogbonna (knee) and Aaron Cresswell (back) all remain out of action.
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