Former Norwich City right-back Danny Mills has highlighted his expectation for the club to sneak into the play-off places by the end of the season while speaking to The Real EFL in a site exclusive,
The East Anglian side are now just three points off the top six with 12 Sky Bet Championship fixtures remaining. Mills, who came through The Canaries’ youth system 20 years ago, established his projection for Norwich to finish in the play-offs in a chat with Jake Coburn earlier today.
“When you look at the squad that they’ve got, at the start of the season, you would probably say play-offs is what they are looking for,” speaking to us courtesy of 888sport.
“Anywhere from fourth to eighth is where I would expect them to finish if I were an owner. Of course, you want to finish in the play-offs, you want to finish a little higher than that; they just have got to keep doing what they are doing and perform at this level and hope that one or two other teams have a blip”.
City have crucially beat the two sides above them earlier in 2024, with both of those wins coming in back-to-back league matches. First, a morale-boosting 1-2 away win over Hull City came at a time when The Canaries were winless in three league matches before they secured a 2-0 home victory against West Brom in their next Championship fixture.
David Wanger’s side are also on a current five-match unbeaten run. Still, Mills also highlighted that points being picked up in the final stretch of matches may not be just down to raw player ability.
“This stage of the season is about the mentality that you have got. What happens when you go one-nil down? Do you panic?
“The teams are sort of in the positions that they are going to be in on terms of ability. It’s now down to who has the mentality to push through and get over that line.”
Norwich’s next two fixtures will be a chance to lay down a real marker, with Sunderland and Middlesbrough, both teams who have seen their play-off hopes fade, making up the opposition.
Writer’s View
There is no doubt that the mentality and character of the Norwich City side will be tested over the final run of matches, with encounters against top opposition in Leicester City and Ipswich still to come.
However, if you look at their final overall fixtures in general, seven of their remaining 12 games come against sides in the bottom half of the table, and that will serve as a very good foundation for The Canaries to build on their unbeaten run and have a real go at fulfilling their ambition to finish in the play-offs, as projected by their former star Danny Mills.
