Alex Neil knows which numbers add up but perhaps pertinently on Grand National weekend the Norwich City boss is keen to slap the blinkers on his squad.

City can open up a seven-point gap on third-from-bottom Sunderland with a third consecutive league win against Crystal Palace, ahead of the Black Cats' upcoming visit to Carrow Road.

Sunderland host title favourites Leicester on Sunday and Neil is well aware the Canaries are embarking on a critical phase in the relegation battle.

'Every game will snowball, just like last year, because you are getting closer to that end point. The quicker we can get those points the more pressure we relieve,' he said. 'If we can win the next two that would take us to 37, which is a decent tally, and you would like to think most of the work had been done by that stage. We are capable.

'That is not the target, it just gets us closer. People talk about the magic 40-point mark and I was listening to Tony Pulis in the week and he was talking about how delighted he was to get to that number.'

Neil accepts Norwich can ill afford to look beyond a struggling Crystal Palace.

'Our focus is on trying to beat Palace to make sure there is more competition to contend with around about us in the table,' he said. 'The reality those teams are not going to win every game they have left. That is not going to happen.

'I'm less worried about what Sunderland might think (this weekend) and how we feel. We have Sunderland next and if we get the three points then we can approach that one in a much healthier position.

'That is easier said than done. I can assure you winning games at this level is tough. We have won back-to-back twice this season so for us to win these next two and put four together, I would be interested to see when the last time Norwich did that.'