Norwich City manager Alex Neil is up for a Premier League survival scrap

Alex Neil is ready for the fight of his footballing life to haul Norwich City to Premier League safety.

The Canaries' were dragged into the relegation zone after a miserable 2-0 defeat at rock-bottom Aston Villa made it five consecutive top flight defeats.

'It has only been two and a half years since I became a manager so of course this is the toughest fight I have been in. I have been used to winning for that whole two years so when you come and start losing it is difficult to handle, it is difficult to deal with and it's not nice,' said the City boss.

'You just want to make sure you fight and do everything in your power to turn it around. Ultimately you need your players to do that as well. They have to show that passion that everyone else has for the club.

'When I was a player I went out and fought tooth and nail and gave everything I had got until the whistle ends. You give everything you have in your body and if that is not enough then at least you can look yourself in the mirror and know you have done everything you can. Do it on the pitch where it matters. I know what type of men they are and how much they want to do well. You have to have enough fire in your belly. I am sick of coming out and saying the same things.'

Neil accepts the only way to prove the Canaries' are Premier League quality is to end a wretched run of results.

'I can assure you there is nothing worse when we have lost than coming out and having to explain it because people think, 'here he goes again,'' said Neil. 'It is going to be a test for me and a test for the players now and this period until the end will dictate if we have enough as a group.

'We have to be brave, With the results we have had you are always going to be asking, 'do we have enough?' I would like to think the answer is yes.'