Daniel Farke insists revenge is not the over-riding emotion ahead of Millwall's Championship visit.
City's 4-0 hammering at the Den earlier this season was the lowest point of the German's reign but Farke is looking at the bigger picture to ring in 2018 in style.
'I don't think I have to mention it but the guys have this really awful day in their heads,' he said.
'To be honest, we can't win the points back from the first game. In football you can never repair a loss. It is a new game and three points. Do we have that in our mind a little bit? Yes.
'We were all annoyed conceding four goals. We are much better in our defensive behaviour since that game. We went on that club record run of clean sheets.
'Now we have tried to get back to that after conceding some goals.
'We changed some personnel and that was one of the reasons but it wasn't a case of pressing a button, we had to work at it and strive for the right balance in the team. With Alex and Tom we know we are pretty solid in our defensive behaviour.'
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Farke pointed out the Lions' extra day's rest after a drab 0-0 weekend draw at Burton, but the City head coach expects his men to be ready at Carrow Road.
'At this level small things can determine the result.
'I don't want to give any of my players an excuse on New Year's Day,' he said. 'We will try everything to make it a home win and a third clean sheet.
'I wouldn't complain if Millwall had the same load and they played Saturday afternoon, and then again on Monday.
'Then for both teams it is the same. One to two days makes a lot of difference.
'Speak to any of the sports science guys and they would tell you the importance of that first night's sleep in the recovery after a game. You can't fully recover from 90 minutes in two days. We had the same situation when we played at Arsenal.
'Both clubs had played on the Sunday before the Tuesday so you didn't hear one bad word from me on that situation. This is not Millwall's fault. We have to make the best of it.'
Harrison Reed is definitely ruled out after damaging his hip in the first half against the Brewers.
'He got something like a dead leg around his hip area,' said Farke. 'The physio told me nothing too bad but he won't be ready for Millwall, because we had something like 44 hours to the next game.'
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