Daniel Farke has issued a warning to his ‘rule breaking’ Norwich City not to let standards drop against Swansea City.

The Canaries have been feted for their attacking brand of football and Farke’s troops will move five points clear of Leeds if they strike the first blow in the promotion race this weekend.

“We are nearly breaking all the rules,” he said. “We are not able to spend lots of money but we are successful. We play with such a young side but we are consistent. We had no pressure and then we have had to play games with lots of pressure, and we handled this. We have to do the same against Swansea because in our position this is a game in which we can fail.

“Everyone knows we have had unbelievably difficult away games at Millwall and Bolton, and against a Bristol side at home who were on fire, and we are able to win these games. We scored three or more in each game, we are nominated for manager of the month, player of the month, maybe team of the month. Each expert is saying we will be promoted and we are the best side with the most consistency.

“If we are not switched on and think we can enjoy ourselves then we will fail. We have to break this football rule as well. I have mentioned this to the lads.”

Farke knows the size of the opportunity to turn up the heat on main promotion rivals Leeds and Sheffield United.

“Let’s not speak about what could happen on Saturday in other games,” he said. “We cannot think that we play on Friday night under the floodlights and we can then lie on the sofa on Saturday while the opponents crack under the pressure.

“We are just greedy for success and we want another good performance at Carrow Road. We won our recent games because of our spirit and hard work.

“Let’s not carried away, we need to dig in and stick together. I got the feeling at Millwall from the first second of that day all the boys were excited for the opportunity ahead.

“Even the players on the bench were there supporting the others. We need that again, and also from our crowd. Let’s get behind the team and stick together.

“We face a side maybe in mid-table but a few months ago who were in the Premier League.

“They have a brilliant coach, a good balance between experience and youth and, for me, one of the best possession sides in the division.”