Norwich City midfielder Alex Tettey believes Bournemouth will be the Championship benchmark over the promotion run-in.

Tettey played in both league tussles against the Cherries this season, in which City claimed four points out of six, including a memorable start to Alex Neil's reign in a 2-1 victory with 10-men last month.

The Norwegian international, however, has been impressed by Eddie Howe's squad who occupy the second automatic promotion spot, six points clear of Norwich, ahead of this weekend's latest fixtures.

Tettey is confident the Canaries will have a big say at the sharp end of the table, but they need to be ruthless when it matters.

'The two games against Bournemouth were very difficult, the rest of the teams we have played I don't think they were stronger than us,' he said. 'We should have won at Derby so for me they are all pretty much the same. The positive is we have games coming up against a lot of those sides, Ipswich, Blackburn, Middlesbrough, Derby. If we can be consistent then everything is possible.

'Right now we are just going game by game. We have had tough periods and there are games we should have won when we didn't and we are trying to pick it up again. In this league I would not be surprised if we can close that gap. It depends on those at the top dropping points and losing games. I have good belief in this group and I believe that by the end of the season it will not be the number of points it has been.'

Tettey was a stand-out performer in last weekend's 2-0 Championship win over Wolves after sitting out the previous home league victory over Blackpool as he looks to manage a longer term knee condition.

The 28-year-old's workload is likely to be monitored again by City boss Neil ahead of another three-game spell in the space of nine days, starting with the trip to Watford.

'If he chooses to play me I am fresh and ready to go. For me personally, it is good to rotate. It shows you have a big squad and you know how to use it,' he said. 'With my knee I cannot play three games in a week. I could do it of course but I don't think my knee would like that. We have some boys who would not want to miss any games and physically they can do it all the time, like Brad (Johnson) and good luck to him, but for others you have to manage the situation. I am starting to get old so I have to manage which games I can play.'