Town chairman David Sheepshanks and manager Joe Royle were amongst the first to send their congratulations to Norwich City after their promotion to the Premiership was confirmed on Wednesday night after Sunderland's defeat at Crystal Palace.

Sheepshanks said: "My congratulations go to Norwich on a wonderful season. I will be among the first to offer my personal well done to everyone at Norwich City.

"In my view nobody can deny the table and they have finished in the top two and so they deserve promotion.

"I hope very much that we now embark on a successful set of six games and join them to maintain the continuity of local derbies."

Royle, briefly a Norwich player towards the end of his career said: "Now it is up to us to go and join them. Nothing would give me greater pleasure than to see a couple of East Anglian derbies next season in the Premiership.

"Congratulations to Nigel [Worthington], Dougie [Livermore] and Steve [Foley]. It is a great achievement and they have hit the heights of consistency all season.

"I will leave the rivalry to the supporters. Having been at Norwich as a player I know they are a good club with nice people and they deserve this.

"I still maintain that at our best we are as good as they are. That is not to undermine their achievements; they are going up because they deserve to."

Town could confirm their place in the top six on Saturday if they beat Nottingham Forest and results elsewhere go their way.

If West Ham and Palace lose at Stoke and Crewe respectively, and Millwall and Sheffield United fail to win in their matches at Reading and Walsall, then the Blues will have cemented their sixth Division One play-off.

Photo: Action Images

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