Town defender Christophe Berra believes the pressure is on Norwich City, who the Blues face in Sunday’s East Anglian derby at Portman Road, to make an immediate return to the Premier League. Berra, who views the Canaries as promotion favourites, says their season would be a “massive failure” if they’re not up there challenging.

“It’s going to be a tough game on Sunday,” Berra said. “Everyone was talking about Newcastle being the favourites, but if you look at the squads, me personally I’d say Norwich could be the favourites.

“They started well and they’ve got experience throughout their whole squad, experienced in the Premier League and the Championship, so it’s going to be a tough game.

“But it’s a derby game and anything can happen. It’s on our home turf and we want to keep up our winning form at home.”

He added: “No disrespect to Newcastle, when you watch them on the telly they’re trying to play a different type of football.

“But I think Norwich know the Championship and know it’s a mixture of both nice football and it can be helter skelter and physical and you’ve got to see games out.

“The Norwich squad have been together two, three, four seasons, they’ve been building, so for that reason I think they’ve got the experience, they’ve got the players, they’ve got the know-how to do it and people who are proven in the Championship, who have been promoted.

“And they’ve got maybe that extra bit - Steven Naismith and Wes Hoolahan - that little bit of magic sometimes.

“They’ll be one of the teams who you think will be up there. If not, it’ll be a massive failure for them. The pressure will be on them to go back up, the same with Aston Villa and Newcastle as well.

“Newcastle have come down and everyone said they’re going to be favourites and they’ve struggled so far. But the Championship’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon and there’s a long, long way to go.”

Berra was sent off for handling a goalbound shot on the line in the 3-1 play-off semi-final second leg defeat at Carrow Road at the end of the 2014/15 season but the Scotland international quickly put that behind him.

“It was just one of those things,” he reflected. “I said at the time I didn’t deliberately do it, it was just instinct.

“My leg went up, the ball was in that kind of area, my arm was out the side, but that’s football. If I dwelled on things, I’ve made plenty of mistakes in the past, it’s part and parcel of being a defender.

“You’re going to go through the season and be at fault for goals, but that’s the job as a defender in the back four.

“Strikers can play crap for 90 minutes and score a winner and that’s all they’re remembered for, or miss a sitter and it’s never mentioned in the paper.

“But then a defender makes a mistake, gives a penalty away and it’s all doom and gloom. It’s part and parcel of the position, you’ve got to be thick-skinned and just get on with it.”

In addition to games against Norwich - so far without recording a victory - Berra has featured in derbies in the Black Country for Wolves against West Brom and also in his home town.

“I remember them fondly, obviously I’ve been at Hearts and I was a local boy in Edinburgh, so that probably meant the most, coming from the town, playing Hibs,” he said. “They were great occasions.

“I think the atmosphere will be from the fans because it’s a local derby and the players need to go out there with cool heads and treat it like any other game.

“We’ve got to go out there and play our game and do the best we can do and make sure we perform on the pitch.

“As long as we can give 110 per cent and try and do the right things, that’s all you can ask, so hopefully on the day we’ll get that bit of luck and maybe the rub of the green and maybe we might outplay them, but it’s going to be a difficult game.

“We know Norwich are a top team and they’ve got a big squad, they’ve got money, having been in the Premier League and they’ve got that experience.

“The last time they came to us it was 1-1 and it was a tough game for both teams, so they won’t look forward to coming to Portman Road.”

He says players learn to ignore the pre-match media hype: “It’s the build-up that’s the main thing. I think by experience you don’t read the papers, you just get on with it.

“It’s another game for us players. You can’t treat it any differently. Obviously you have that adrenaline in the build-up and the atmosphere’s going to be pumped up, but you go out there and you do the same things you try and do, like we did at Wolves, and hopefully we’ll come out on top and get the points.

“It’ll be a tough game and it’ll be the fourth league game, so it’s a long, long season to go.”"

Photo: TWTD

wedgieblue added 14:57 - Aug 18 COYB....!! simple facts are; we are a championship club the last how many years have proved that, we have plenty of ambition but nothing to back it up. Its like Putting Frankie Dettori on a thoroughbred donkey, you hope he'll make the difference but come down to it the raw materials (donkey in this case) are simply not good enough. We like to think we can do battle with the top sides but unfortunately just like Frankie on the donkey, we are left wanting at the end of the day. I appreciate that we're only 4 games in but i fear that the result on Sunday is going to put us back even further and resign ourselves to another 'huff and puff' season with little to show for it other than a number of loanees who have to return to the parent clubs (clubs that will welcome their fledglings back with open arms saying 'there there its alright, it's all over, you're safe now)... Lets hope that MM is building for the future, as Burley did over his 5 years, and he can find the right mix so the sum of the parts (as it was in our promotion season and the one after) is far greater than any small budget can provide.. Fingers crossed hey..!?

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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 15:13 - Aug 18 Let's do our talking on the pitch on Sunday!
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borat_the_blue added 16:21 - Aug 18 He's in their heads!
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ivegottheblues added 16:22 - Aug 18 Unfortunately we have a lot more to prove than they do.
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Seasider added 16:35 - Aug 18 Following Ipswich from the days when Ipswich were league Champions.I then saw them fall into the now Championship,and under Sgt Major Bill McGarry go back into the top division where we stayed for many years whilst Sir Bobby Robson was at the helm. During this time our 'friends' from Norfolk were always second best,and basically were until about ten years ago;so it annoys me now for Ipswich to be talked about as the little Suffolk team who are underdogs to the 'mighty'Norwich. I do so hope we win on Sunday!

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jas0999 added 16:53 - Aug 18 Failure is also missing the play offs and also not achieving automatic promotion when exceptionally well placed the season before, but failing to strengthen the squad in January.
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Pessimistic added 19:46 - Aug 18 Berra is a much better observer of football that a defender sadly. I would play Tommy |Smith every time personally because although he always has a mistake in him it is not always as costly and he wears Town on his heart.
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VulpineBlue added 22:06 - Aug 18 Just remember to keep your mitts out of the way in the box, old son.
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VulpineBlue added 22:06 - Aug 18 Just remember to keep your mitts out of the way in the box, old son.
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VulpineBlue added 22:06 - Aug 18 Just remember to keep your mitts out of the way in the box, old son.
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woohoo added 11:12 - Aug 19 Facts are facts and, sadly, at the moment, we are a 'Championship team'. I'm not being defeatist and pray it changes this season (after a convincing 3-0 win on Sunday) - but the years are passing us by. ME probably has bigger fish to fry, just now...
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