Norwich City must hit the 75-point mark to grab a Championship play-off spot
Norwich City manager Alex Neil will not give up hope of a late play-off push. Picture: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd - Credit: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd
Alex Neil is targeting the long game to guide Norwich City into Championship play-off contention.
The Canaries failed to cash in on slip ups for play-off rivals at the weekend, with a 1-1 derby draw against Ipswich leaving them six points behind sixth-placed Sheffield Wednesday.
Norwich head to Yorkshire on Saturday with 52 points ahead of the remaining 12 games, and based on the past decade it will take 75 points to guarantee the final play-off position.
The Owls themselves finished sixth last season on 74 points but that 75 mark would have been good enough in all bar one campaign - ironically when Ipswich picked up 78 points in the 2014/15 when City triumphed at Wembley.
Leicester City's 68-point total in 2012/13 was the lowest to earn a play-off spot over the past decade.
Norwich play five of the sides above them over the run-in and Neil accepts Saturday's upcoming trip to Hillsborough is the first of a series of defining battles.
'Everyone is looking at it as if if we must win the next one or two to hit the play-off positions. The fact is there are 12 games left,' he said. 'Whether we get in just now or in a few weeks time my only concern is that at the end of these next 12 games we are in the play-off positions. If it takes us to the last game then that is when it will be important.
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'Of course it is attainable. We have five of the top six still left to play so it is still in our own hands. We went on an incredible run last time and got ourselves into the play-offs comfortably. I am not sure it is going to be anywhere near as comfortable this time around but we are certainly capable of putting a run together to get into the play-offs. We have a lot of work ahead. We have to win more games than the teams above us. It really is as simple as that; then the match-ups become significant because we take three points from them and add them to our total. We are confident with this group but when those moments come along in games we have to take them between now and the end of the season.'
