Norwich City's accelerated rate of progress under Alex Neil is no surprise to the man himself.

The Canaries have picked up 19 points from a possible 24 since he was installed, but the Scot is cautioning there is plenty of hard work still ahead.

'No, I'm not surprised. Once they got the message it was about implementing it on the pitch,' he said. 'I can come up with the best tactics in the world but unless they do it, it doesn't make any difference. They see the formation works if they work hard and that is why all the credit goes to them. We are in as good form as any so there is no reason why we can not continue this run. We think we can beat anyone but if we don't perform any team can beat us. That is the league. If you are not at you will be beat.'

The gruelling nature of Championship combat ensures Neil does not have to worry about the perils of complacency.

'It is not a case of keeping anyone's feet on the ground,' he said. 'It is a case of we know what we are capable of and working as hard as we have done in these recent games to achieve our goal. It is simple as that. Like I say, we know now if we work as hard as we can we have the quality, provided we are set up well, and they play to their full potential then we have the ability to hurt any team so it is just a case of making sure the performance levels are high, the concentration levels are high and we continue to work as hard as we can.

'They believe they are good players, I think that is obvious, so it is a case of getting them structured and working as a group and making sure they all know their tasks.'