Norwich City were right to stick with Alex Neil, insists Burton’s Nigel Clough

Clough admits' the visitors' attacking threat is 'scary' although the Brewers' chief is relishing the chance to send out a signal to their Championship relegation rivals at the Pirelli Stadium.

Norwich's nosedive prior to Christmas put Neil under intense pressure, but City head north unbeaten in six after a battling midweek 2-2 draw against title hopefuls Newcastle.

'They are on a charge. They were beating Newcastle for a large part of that game,' said Clough. 'It shows the faith that Norwich have put in him is great. These clubs who change managers at a drop of a hat I don't think it benefits them the majority of the time. He got them promoted before, they nearly stayed in the Premier League last season. Why not stick with him? He is a good manager.

'Norwich have just scored seven goals in two games and you look at some of their forward players and it is quite scary in this league. They had a Premier League squad last season but we will enjoy competing against them. We will have a go at them and we fancy playing anyone at the Pirelli. It will be a different experience for them from playing in front of 25,000 at Carrow Road so we are looking forward to it. The nature of the Championship means you can always cause an upset.'

Burton have had a full week to prepare and go into the game buoyed by a favourable set of midweek results that kept them two points clear of the relegation places.

'Results went for us during the week, more or less, and it is getting very tight down there now,' Clough told Burton's official site. 'Something like five or six points separates the clubs from the middle down in the table. We had a clear week, especially after going down to Brighton missing six players.

'We have three games coming up now. We can't pick and choose but with Norwich at home and Derby away the Blackburn game after those two is the most important simply because they are a team around us.'