Alex Neil will never sacrifice his attacking instincts to keep Norwich City in the Premier League.

Neil's fearless approach propelled the Canaries into the top flight, but City have leaked 21 goals in 10 games ahead of this weekend's assignment at leaders Manchester City.

'I'm an attacking-minded coach. I was brought here to win games. That won't change. That is how I believe the game should be played,' he said. 'When I am a spectator going to watch football I like to see teams try and play and break the opposition down. In the same breath what we can't do is neglect our defensive responsibilities and make sure when we don't have the ball we get back behind it and make ourselves really hard to break down and defend properly.

'I am a big believer I would rather send a team out to go and win the game rather than try to sit back and not lose it. I don't think that is going to do us any favours. Scoring goals and trying to win games at this level is what is going to keep us in a good position. Hoping they don't do enough to break you down is not how I want my teams to play.'

Neil was critical of his own role in City's recent downfall at Newcastle after substituting Alex Tettey during a crucial stage in the 6-2 defeat.

'When I talked about curbing my attacking instincts I was saying that more in reference to the substitution I made in terms of going for it so early,' he said. 'At 3-2 I could have been more patient. That is my natural instincts. In the Championship our attacking power was enough a lot of the time but at this level you have to be better without the ball. We did it in the play-off final when we scored two early goals and then defended really, really well for the remainder of the game so we can do it.'