Results may not show it, but Norwich City's warm-weather break did them the world of good – and they will reap their rewards from it over the remainder of the season, according to captain Russell Martin.

While the Canaries have had the rough end of a few sticks since they returned from Abu Dhabi a fortnight ago, suffering painful defeats at Premier League leaders Leicester on Saturday and then at home to defending top-flight champions Chelsea on Tuesday night, the performances of Alex Neil's men have deserved much better.

And while that is perhaps the minimum pay-off the break could have given City so far, everyone will be hoping the real rewards start from this weekend when Norwich head to relegation rivals Swansea – a side buoyed by their midweek win at Arsenal.

'I think the break gave us time to reflect on what had gone wrong, what had gone right, how we feel most comfortable playing as a group, how we want to go forward and how we're going to stay in the Premier League,' said Martin.

'It was good to have a lot of time together, and a lot of time on the training pitch to work hard and put some key things down.

'That break gave us a bit of time to refresh. We all still believe we've got a really good group in there. Hopefully everyone still believes in us and have seen that since the break, we have been right back on it and ready to go.'

It has also seen Martin return to the centre of defence in a back three alongside Ryan Bennett and Timm Klose – a formation the skipper feels has a lot going for it at Carrow Road.

'It's a system the boys enjoy playing,' added Martin. 'I think it solidifies us quite a lot and it gives us a bit of possession as well, to maybe get a bit higher up the pitch with the front lads and look after it a bit better in the final third as a team.'