Fri Oct 25, 2013 8:38 pm
Cardiff City refusing to contemplate Norwich defeat that would send club into relegation zone
Don Cowie in action for Cardiff City
By Terry Phillips | 25 Oct 2013 12:21
Cardiff City midfielder Don Cowie is refusing to even contemplate the prospect of the Bluebirds being plunged into the relegation zone if they lose to Norwich City tomorrow.
Malky Mackay's men travel to Carrow Road for perhaps their most important Premier League match yet as they look to get their season back on track in the wake of two successive defeats and a month of off-field turmoil sparked by the departure of Mackay's recruitment chief Iain Moody.
Cardiff sit just one place, and one point, above Norwich, who occupy the final relegation spot heading into the match.
A win would ease any tension building around the Bluebirds' camp, while defeat would leave the Premier League new boys in a dire predicament ahead of the South Wales derby and matches against Aston Villa, Manchester United and Arsenal in the next month.
Cowie, though, is confident Cardiff will have pulled further clear of the clubs below them come Saturday night.
“We are all confident that come the final whistle we won't be in the bottom three," he said.
“We know what we have to do against Norwich and believe we can carry our our game plan effectively.
“If we did lose than we would deal with it, but that's not something we are thinking about.
“Norwich have quality players, and they will get better as the season goes on.
Gallery: Norwich v Cardiff City - The key stats
Cardiff boss Malky Mackay played for Norwich, of course, making 215 League appearances between 1998 and 2004
Norwich have lost just one of their last 10 competitive home games against Cardiff City (W7 D2 L1).
Cardiff have kept a clean sheet in just one of their eight Barclays Premier League games so far. That was the 0-0 draw with Everton
Norwich City have lost four of their last five Premier League games (W1) and have netted just three times during this run.
Cardiff have conceded a league-high tally of five goals from outside the box this season. Bryan Ruiz's strike for Fulham was one of them
Steven Caulker has blocked more opposition shots in the Premier League this season than any other player (14).
Cardiff City come in to this game off the back of two successive defeats in the league – they have not lost three successive league games since November 2009.
Cardiff City have allowed their opponents more shots on target than any other side in the Premier League this season (51).
Craig Bellamy comes up against the team that gave him his big chance. He joined the Canaries in 1996 as a trainee, playing 84 games and netting 32 times
Malky Mackay remians the bookies' favourite to be the next Premier League manager sacked at 3/1. Norwich boss Hughton is next in line with similar odds
“We have adapted pretty well to the Premier League and apart from a couple of periods where we have let ourselves down and not performed we have done reasonably well.
“Chelsea showed the challenge we face and we competed for an hour, but we have to maintain those levels for 90 minutes.
“Norwich are established at Premier League level, they have spent money and will be looking for a return from their new players, but that can take time.
“Our job is to make sure they don't get a return in this match.”
The Scottish international and his Bluebirds team-mates insist they have put the 4-1 defeat at Chelsea last weekend out of their minds, while he insists Moody's departure has not had an effect on the squad.
Jordon Mutch opened the scoring on 10 minutes
Mutch celebrates his goal
Eden Hazard scores the opener
Hazard celebrates after Marshall was robbed of the ball
Malky Mackay was back in the dugout after a turbulent two weeks
Chelsea's Samuel Eto'o wheels away as he celebrates scoring his side's second goal
Chelsea's Oscar celebrates scoring his side's third goal
Cardiff players hold their heads in despair as the fourth goal is scored
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“It was a freak thing that happened at Chelsea (their equaliser), but we responded to that pretty well until we were punished in the last 20 minutes,” said Cowie.
“We went with a game plan to frustrate Chelsea and it worked for an hour.
“Now we have a new approach, a new game plan for the match at Norwich.”
On Moody's departure, Cowie said: “That's nothing to do with the players and it's never been brought up. It's something the manager will deal with.”