Norwich City boss David Wagner makes comment which will please Plymouth Argyle
Norwich City boss David Wagner has promised 'we will go strong' when it comes to team selection for their season-ending away game against Plymouth Argyle's relegation rivals Birmingham City tomorrow.
The fifth-placed Canaries only need a point to guarantee a Championship play-off place and although they will be without former Argyle striker Ashley Barnes due to a calf injury there was every indication from Wagner he would not be resting any players ahead of a potential push for promotion to the Premier League in the coming days.
Argyle know a win against play-off hopefuls Hull City at Home Park tomorrow will see them to safety. A draw or a defeat, though, will leave them at risk of being overtaken by Birmingham, who are one point below them in the table, and relegated to League One.
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Wagner said in his pre-match Press conference: "We like to win football matches, and we'd like to finish as high up the table as we can. We are not mathematically safe.
"Because of this we will go strong. We will attack this game, because we know that if we win we can finish fifth. At the end of the day, we all work in a professional business. This means that we like to play professional games and we like to win them. This is exactly how it is, and it would be exactly the same if we were mathematically safe."
He continued: "We'd like to get points, win this game, finish as high as we can in the table. This is exactly the same from matchday one to matchday 46.
"Obviously it's now a game where there is a lot of pressure for both teams. Maybe there's a little bit more for Birmingham because they have to win and they're fighting against relegation.
"This makes it even more exciting. It will be a big occasion, a big game for sure. But if we do our job, we will have some further big games coming up. This is a very, very good test for all of us to show how calm we can be. We'll keep our heads cool, but play with fire in our bellies."
Meanwhile, Birmingham interim manager Gary Rowett believes home advantage at sold-out St Andrew's could make a huge difference for his side against Norwich. He has been in charge since March after Tony Mowbray had to step down through illness.
Rowett said: "At home our fans have a role to play. When the place is rocking and full – I think this will be the third full house in four home games – it makes a huge difference. Every club and manager will say the same about their own fans but at St Andrew’s it makes such a huge difference.
“I think that’s the given this weekend. The given is the atmosphere is going to be electric, the given is the fans are going to be there spurring the players on. What we have got to make sure is the team feeds off that and gets the maximum we need from the performance.
"You can have a plan for all eventualities but one thing we know with a game like this is you are going to have to react pretty quickly within the game, as a player and a manager."
If Birmingham defeat Norwich, they need one of Argyle, Sheffield Wednesday (away to Sunderland) or Blackburn Rovers (at Leicester City) to lose and then they would stay up. A draw could be enough for Blues but only if the Pilgrims were beaten by five goals or more against Hull.
Rowett said: "We have had an eye on results elsewhere in the last three games. We knew at the weekend we had to win the game because Sheffield Wednesday were winning. That’s been the mentality anyway.
"You can’t just go and win a game because another game is a draw. But at that point you can throw the dice with the subs and you can try and be as attacking as you can possibly be. It doesn’t mean you’re going to be attacking, it just means that’s your intention.
“We have been aware of the results in games because objectively you have to be. It doesn’t really shape how you feel about the game it just allows you to make more informed decisions.
"And we will be exactly the same on Saturday. I think we need to know but at the same time, if you’re one-nil up you can’t rely on one of the other teams not scoring a 94th minute winner. You have to be mindful of your own performance and make sure you do your part of the bargain which is very clear for us, it's to win the game. I don’t think a draw is anything we can consider.
"Even if another team is losing by a certain number of goals, it doesn’t make any difference to us. It’s win the game and do everything we can to win the game."
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