Twenty-eight points down, 12 to go – that's the situation as far as goalkeeper John Ruddy is concerned as Norwich City moved three steps closer to preserving their Premier League status at West Brom.

Every team from eighth-placed Stoke downwards is looking to hit the magical 40-point mark, which all but guarantees Premier League safety, and Saturday's win at The Hawthorns left the Canaries just four wins from achieving that goal.

Only West Ham have been relegated from the Premier League with more than 40 points in the past 10 years and Ruddy is confident if Norwich can keep producing the type of displays that saw off West Brom then top-flight sanctuary is not far away.

'40 points is what we're aiming for,' said the former Everton man, whose resistance was breached just once through a Shane Long penalty on Saturday.

'We need to keep fighting for every point.

'People say the 40 point mark is where you want to hit and we are four wins off that.

'We're confident if we continue playing like we have done then we will get to that mark sooner rather than later.'

While the Canaries continue to confound the critics who predicted they would struggle at the start of the season Ruddy insisted his team-mates would not get sucked into the plaudits they are now receiving.

Manager Paul Lambert will ensure his squad have already put the victory behind them and his squad focused on plotting Chelsea's downfall next weekend.

'That's the way the manager goes about his business and you can't argue with what he has done at this club,' said Ruddy. 'We know what he's about and he has brought a mentality where there are no big egos in the team.

'I think it shows that if you get ahead of yourself in this league then you're going to stumble. We're fortunate enough to have a belief in the squad that we won't get ahead of ourselves.

'Everyone wants to work for everyone and I think that it shows on the pitch. A lot has been made of our team spirit and I think that is what's getting us where we are today.'

Ruddy has pinpointed March as the month when City can ensure Carrow Road will be hosting top-flight football for at least another season.

'March is the month where most people say you drop points and if we can get as many points as we can before then we are confident we can get to that 40 point mark sooner rather than later.

'I'm sure we will get more but we move on to the next game and that will be another chance for us to get points against a very good team.'

Norwich had to withstand long periods of pressure from the Baggies but Ruddy revealed it was City's game plan all along to suck up the pressure and hit them on the break.

'We knew it would be difficult to break them down if they got into their shape,' he said. 'They come with two banks of four when they haven't got the ball and it's very difficult to break them down. The first goal was a prime example of what we had been trying to do for the week building up to this game and it paid off.

'It's always difficult to come away from home and try and frustrate the opposition. We try to frustrate the fans and make them turn if we can. I think we've done that superbly well today – they are a very good footballing side. But every man did their job and that's why we came away with the three points.'

Ruddy was one of City's star performers although he was almost caught out by Peter Odemwingie's long-range effort early on when he just about palmed the Nigerian's shot over the crossbar.

'It's always nice when the ball doesn't hit the back of the net – that's what I'm there for. Some might say that I got a bit lucky with the first one but if they saw how much that it moved then they would see that I've done quite well to turn it over. We've conceded a sloppy goal from the penalty spot but we've shown great spirit to come back into it.'