Alex Neil insists Norwich City’s 1-0 Bristol City win sets up Ipswich Championship derby clash

Alex Neil admitted Norwich City's 1-0 Championship win against Bristol City on Tuesday was the perfect tune-up for this weekend's East Anglian derby.

City will head to Ipswich with seven points from nine after Jonny Howson inflicted a first defeat of the campaign on the Robins at Carrow Road.

'It allows us to enjoy the occasion and certainly the fans will really relish it,' said Neil. 'We have a good record against them but in derbies that doesn't really count for anything. We want to maintain what we have done in the past however.

'Looking at results elsewhere seven points is good. (Aston) Villa have struggled again and Sheffield Wednesday, who played well here, have got beaten at Burton so it is going to be a tough league. We have seven points and it sets us up nicely for the derby on Sunday.'

Captain Howson opened his account for the season from Wes Hoolahan's clever pass.

'Jonny is an all-rounder. He can do everything and he is capable of bits of quality like that,' said Neil. 'He was captain again and deservedly so and he has been great for me since I have been here. Wes has been our creator-in-chief since I have been here. For me, in terms of technically and seeing things with his vision, Wes is as good as anything in the Championship. He was voted in the team of the decade which tells you all you need to know in that number 10 role. The way we play suits him, we want to get him high up the pitch to influence the game and I want to let him go and play and wander.

'First 10 minutes I thought we looked a bit tentative, which was perhaps a hangover from the weekend. We then settled down and played some good stuff and got the goal with Jonny. Alex Tettey hits the post and then in the second half we dominated most of the second half, hit the post again and had a few other opportunities. I thought we were fairly comfortable. The lads played well without being at their best but it was a good performance.'