Norwich City's belief in the football they are trying to play is what's fuelling their Championship resurgence, according to Moritz Leitner.
The former Borussia Dortmund midfielder has proven a crucial cog on Daniel Farke's Canaries machine, since his arrival on a permanent deal in the summer.
Two points clear at the top of the Championship during the final international break of 2018, City have not only picked up impressive results – 10 wins from their opening 17 games – but have done so with a swagger and style not seen during Farke's first season in charge.
That style even extended to turning a 3-2 injury-time deficit into a dramatic victory over Millwall last time out, when there was not a single hopeful long ball in sight from those in yellow and green.
'I can only speak for me but I think as a team we really believe in our kind of football and how we want to play, and I'm 100pc sure with that kind of football we can be really successful,' said Leitner.
'We always have our plan – a really good plan as to how we play football and how we think about football. On the pitch though, sometimes you can't think about the big moments – then you just have to take it and play with your heart. And if you play with your heart, of course sometimes you will fall down but you always get up and go on.
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'It is always easier if you are successful but even like against Stoke or in the first part of the season when we had some bad results, it feels like we never stop believing.
'The things that knock us down bring us closer and closer, and if we just talk about or think about the club and go out on the pitch and invest everything for the team and the club, that's the way – that's how we have done it until now, and how we have to go on.'
City have conceded one goal fewer than they managed after 17 games last season, but it is at the other end where the real difference lies: the Canaries' tally of 28 goals scored is 12 more than at the same stage of last term.
And Leitner believes that statistic – along with the competition among City's strikers – is why Farke's squad have kept things ticking along so nicely, so far.
'Teemu (Pukki), Jordan (Rhodes) and you're not allowed to forget Dennis (Srbeny) in that too,' added Leitner.
'I think this is a moment to think about that – the lads who are not in the squad so much until now, they are amazing.
'I've seen it every day. They are working and put pressure on the guys who are playing, and I'm really respectful of the lads and hope we can go on like this. I think that's why we have been successful up until now.'
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