Neil Adams admitted talk was cheap after another frustrating Championship shift against Reading and its the actions of his players since that convince him they realise what is at stake.

Adams' long term future will remain a sub-plot until Norwich can force themselves back into contention at the top end of the table.

'The pleasing thing for me this week is the freshness about the place,' he said. 'You could be forgiven for thinking we'd be on a real downer, but it hasn't been like that. The players have rolled up their sleeves, the training is good, as it always has been, and you wouldn't think we were on the run we have. I hope that continues into the Wigan game now because we have done the debrief, done our analysis and we know what they will be about. We have put a lot of training hours in this week. On Monday they usually do a recovery session but we had them out there straight away working on things and the pleasing thing is they look ready for it. I'm not saying that shouldn't always be the case but there is definitely something there this week that you wouldn't have expected perhaps with the results.'

Adams was keen to curtail his Reading inquest but the Norwich boss knows there must be no repeat of such charity from set pieces after watching his side concede twice from identical corner routines.

'We were all bitterly disappointed on Saturday, supporters, players and fans. Now it is about moving on,' he said. 'We looked at the game and we analysed it but we have to move on. We said two or three games ago we looked vulnerable to counter-attacks and our own set plays, Nottingham Forest being the case in point, and we have actually looked better since in that respect. The problem against Reading was two defensive set plays, which were two gifts of goals, in an area we have been okay in. It's a case of nailing one area and then another one pops up and that is how it has gone for us so I wasn't surprised by the reaction of the fans.

'Even though the emotion and the adrenaline has gone I still feel they were fantastic during the game because they stuck with us and you can ask for no more. Afterwards they have every right to vent their frustrations. They turn up, they pay their hard-earned money week in, week out so they are entitled to make their displeasure felt.'

City now face another club looking for the same uplift as Brighton and Reading in recent times.

'Yes, I'm surprised to see Wigan down there. You feel there are 10 or 12 who are in with a possibility of making it and Wigan would be in that batch,' he said. 'They would say the same about us. It is an important game and one we desperately one to win. They probably do fancy playing us if they look at the form.

'If they delve a little bit deeper they will see we are not playing badly, but on the run we're on maybe they do feel we are under pressure and confidence is low.'