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STAYING UP

STAYING UP

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Norwich City manager Chris Hughton has said that he is looking forward to establishing the club as one of the regular fixtures in the Premier league. Norwich were recently promoted to the Premier league under the management of Paul Lambert. However, the second season in the English top division appeared to be a struggle for Norwich after Lambert left the club at the start of the season. The arrival of Chris Hughton, who has done a good job with the likes of Newcastle and Birmingham in the past, has worked in favour of the club.

Norwich struggled with the threat of relegation only in the last few weeks of the campaign, but even that was eroded following the 3-2 win over Manchester City on the final day of the season. This victory helped the club bounce from the 16th position in the table to an 11th place. They have also managed to secure the £ 4 million prize money as a result of this huge bump up. Hughton has said that he does not want to have any threat of relegation next season. He wants Norwich to be a regular Premier league club as the likes of Sunderland and Stoke City have become over the years.

“There were some really good stats this season. The facts are we had 10 clean sheets and in addition to that out of 38 games, we had 22 we either drew or lost by the odd goal. Those aspects we got right. What we needed to address is getting those additional goals that turn draws into wins and those defeats into draws and we found it difficult,” said Hughton. He is prepared to enter into the transfer market in order to strengthen the team. He reckons that the next season will be even tougher than the current one.

INJURIES COST BLACKBURN

INJURIES COST BLACKBURN

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After losing in the FA Cup quarter-final against Millwall, the Blackburn Rovers manager Michael Appleton has said that the team is short on quality due to the injuries and lack of form. Blackburn suffered an embarrassing 1-0 defeat at the hands of Millwall. The club have the opportunity to play at Wembley in the FA Cup semifinals had they gone through. Now, the team has not only exited the competition, but they also have to face the fans wrath in the final league matches of the campaign. Blackburn have managed just two draws since the 1-0 win over Arsenal in the FA Cup.

Appleton said at that time that he wants the team to use this amazing victory as a confidence booster and kick on in the campaign. However, they have since lost all but two of their matches. As a result, the team has dropped into the 16th position in the table. Reaching the play-offs positions was one of the targets given to the manager Appleton, but the team are just six points above the relegation zone. The manager has said that he expects results to improve once he gets his first-team players back from injury. The team have to make use of the successive home matches in the league against Burnley and Blackpool in order to make up the ground.

“We are certainly lacking on numbers and we’re certainly lacking on quality at the minute. From a confidence point of view the boys are struggling a little but I think you can use that as an excuse. The whole mentality of the football club – in terms of taking it really personal and wanting to do something about it and put it right is really important. A victory against Burnley on Sunday will certainly go a long way to making me feel a lot better than I do and I’m sure it will be the same for the fans as well,” said Appleton.