Alex Neil is backing Norwich City to pick up Premier League points as well as plaudits ahead of this weekend's first away trip to Sunderland.

City felt hard done by in a 3-1 home defeat to Crystal Palace on the opening day, but with a fixture list that sees them face none of last season's top five until the trip to Manchester City on October 31, Neil accepts much will be made of the Canaries' early run.

'You can take that both ways,' he said. 'If you get some results in the first eight games then it's a good boost, but if you don't then it starts to look very tricky. We have to face everyone over the course of the season. I think belief comes from performances, even if you lose but you show you are capable of competing at that level, then that grows confidence within the squad.

'But the bottom line is winning games brings belief to players, fans, everyone inside a club. We want to continue the belief we had grown in the last six months.'

Neil was encouraged by much of City's work against the Eagles.

'If that second goal goes in and it's then 2-2, we're the team that's going forward, but it's disallowed and they score as we're pushing to get ourselves back into the game,' he said. 'All of a sudden it's 3-1 and we're outclassed, and that's how people will see it, but I don't have any gripes about that.'