Dean Smith realistic about Norwich’s survival prospects with games running out

Dean Smith accepts games are running out in Norwich’s battle to stay in the Premier League but believes they have a building block to work with ahead of next weekend’s vital clash with Burnley.

The Canaries ended a run of six straight defeats with a goalless draw at Brighton on Saturday albeit they were indebted to Neal Maupay’s missed first-half penalty.

Norwich could have snatched the points late on when Teemu Pukki found Milot Rashica inside the area but the Kosovo international volleyed off target.

It was a rare moment of adventurism for the bottom-of-the-table club, who were without nine players for the trip to the south coast.

Smith insisted: “You can only play as good as the opposition allow you to at times. It would have been folly of us to open up, go all-out attack and lose 3-0. Then we haven’t got that point, so it is a building block for us.

“We know we are running out of games but we have to give ourselves a chance to go and win games.”

An opportune time to rediscover their winning touch would be Sunday when relegation rivals Burnley visit Carrow Road.

Manchester United loanee Brandon Williams could return after an ankle issue but attackers Joshua Sargent and Przemyslaw Placheta (both ankle) look set to stay on the sidelines.

“Sarg will have to stay in a (protective) boot for the next 10 days,” Smith revealed.

“Przemyi will be booted up for four or five days. Hopefully we’ll have Brandon back for the next game. I don’t know about Max Aarons (hamstring/illness) just yet so it has not been a great week certainly.”

With attacking options limited, Smith again turned to 18-year-old Jonathan Rowe from the bench in the stalemate with Brighton and the under-23s ace got his longest run-out to date with a 30-minute