Norwich boss Daniel Farke has told his perennial underdogs to let the Premier League table take care of itself.
Farke looked on as the Canaries passed up the opportunity to drag themselves to within five points of safety on Saturday when they emerged from their trip to Newcastle with a 0-0 draw after squandering a series of glorious chances to win the game.
With 13 rounds of fixtures remaining, last season’s Sky Bet Championship winners lie seven points off 17th place and are in danger of being cast adrift if their fortunes do not take a turn for the better in the next few weeks.
However, Farke said: “Of course, as we are coming closer to the end, it’s more difficult to close the gap, without any doubt. We are not naïve, we know this, but it is also important that we keep going with these performances and then we will see at the end of the season.
“Let the table take care of itself. We have to make sure that we are good on all topics in each game, and that we make everyone proud who supports this yellow shirt.
“We know that we are the underdog in each and every game, but if we go on like this, no one can blame us and everyone can be proud of what we did.”
Had 11-goal striker Teemu Pukki remembered to pack his shooting boots or Magpies goalkeeper Martin Dubravka not been at his best, Norwich would have left Tyneside with all the points on a day when Newcastle were woefully off the pace despite the first-half chance Miguel Almiron squandered.
They created more than enough openings to win the game and remained in the ascendancy until the death but crucially could not make the pressure tell.
Farke said: “We have now had four top-class performances in a row and that’s what we have to do. This is all I ask for, I can’t ask for a miracle, otherwise it wouldn’t be a miracle anymore, it would be just normal.
“All I ask for is that we give ourselves a chance in each game to win the game, and this is what we have to do also in the next coming 13 league games – and also hopefully in many cup games – to deliver such a performance that gives us a chance to win.
“We are not in a situation where we can expect goals or we can expect wins because we don’t bring players in here that cost £10million or £15million or £20million.
“We have to back our players, we have to back our young lads and that’s what we are trying to do.”
Newcastle head coach Steve Bruce was candid in his assessment of a poor display by his team and happy to take a point at the end of it.
He said: “When we’ve got the ball, we have to do more, and there’s the concern. We have to give the supporters something to shout about and certainly in a forward area, we didn’t offer enough – or midfield, I have to tell you.”
