This season must surely rank among the best Norwich City has endured for the thrilling, entertainment factor alone.

Listening to what other managers and players have to say about Norwich scoring in teh dying minutes, you might think some kind of cheating was going on.

The simple truth is our bunch of lads, and the real togetherness as a team and a group of friends, have developed a mindset that they are not beaten until the referee blows the final whistle.

Credit must go to them, and to Paul Lambert, for being fit enough to play those added minutes at a tempo that deserts the opposition after 90 minutes, and a refusla to accept defeat.

Certain managers of Welsh capital city clubs, like dave Jones at Cardiff, he with the face like a bulldog chewing a wasp, claim an unfair advantage because Norwih had one day extra to recover from the game against Ipswich.

Take nothing away from Cardiff's achievements so far this season, but to them promotion is a neccessity, with the money and players they have borrowed in an attempt to buy a Premiership place.

And there is a thought in competitive psychology that excusing your opponent's victories is the beginning of admitting defeat.

Winning is a positive mindset, and Norwich have that is abundance. Admittedly, a trip to Fratton Park will cause a few nerves to fray among the supporters, but Paul Lambert will have instilled his players with the simple though that this is just one more game. But, don't throw away all you have strived for and make silly mistakes to let Portsmouth get into their stride.

Cardiff will have the chance to put the pressure on by playing Middlesborough a few hours earlier, although Jones might complain, yet again, that Norwich had longer to recover...

The boys will know what they have to do, but they will go out there and play there own game.

On a personal note, I hope that Norwich secures promotion sooner rather than later. I haven't had a hair cut since I paraded at the Cenotaph last November, making up my mind to keep my locks until we go up. So far it is working, but I look like a wind swept thing you could get on jam jars years ago.

Come on you Yellows

Photo: Action Images

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