Alex Neil is challenging his Norwich City squad to stamp their mark on the fraught Championship promotion race.

City return to action following the international break just two points outside the automatic promotion places ahead of a Good Friday trip to Chris Hughton's Brighton.

Neil's impact since arriving from Hamilton has earned him plenty of plaudits and a manager-of-the-month award, but the Scot insists it is now up to his players to shine.

Wes Hoolahan was in sparkling form in the impressive 3-1 league win over Nottingham Forest prior to the international shutdown and Neil is confident he has the artillery at his disposal to drag City over the finishing line.

'You can talk about possession or how you set up as a manager but really all that matters now is the results. Someone has to step up to the mark and make that difference in the game,' he said.

'I am a big believer that if you control the ball then you give the opposition a problem, if your team and your movement is good enough then you will break a team down and score a goal.

'When we drew a few games things were being questioned, whereas prior to that no-one was questioning how we played because they were working fine. We want to control the ball, play in the opposition's half and you hope we have enough quality and movement and, generally, we have to be fair.'

Neil insists his tactical nous will not be the deciding factor down the final stretch.

'People get caught up in systems a lot,' he said.

'I think fans and journalists make more of systems than they actually should. It is about breaking them down when you have the ball and getting it back when you don't. You have a better chance when you are organised. That doesn't change, irrespective of who we play.'