Norwich's fitful away form is heaping huge pressure on their Carrow Road output, admits Chris Hughton.

City have claimed 20 of their 28 Premier League points in front of the home support, and the Norwich boss knows there is little margin for error ahead of a defining run which begins with Stoke's visit.

'Yes, I think we are putting pressure on us. That goes without saying,' said Hughton. 'We would prefer to be picking up away points and any you do eases a bit of that pressure on home performances and results. It is only us who can do something about it. Those are the inconsistencies that frustrate you. If you look at the number of clean sheets that tells you we are capable of getting points home and away. If we had that consistency we would be another three, four, five places up the division. These are the things that test us and we are working hard to focus on that.'

City have produced against the likes of Crystal Palace, West Ham and Hull at home but Hughton does not put Stoke's visit in the 'must-win' bracket.

'In the context of the games we have to come that is a phrase I want to steer clear of,' he said. 'We have 10 games left and this is one of those. We don't underestimate the importance of this game. What we know is we have to pick up points against those around us and we have fallen short of that in recent weeks. We have to buck that trend. One thing we did learn last season is that you have to remain calm because a lot of pressure falls on everybody and up until the last three games there was seven teams who mathematically could still go down. We are now part of arguably 10 teams in the same situation so it is important we stick to our principles and keep calm.'