Ben Gibson has shed further light on the methods which have revived Norwich City’s hopes of Premier League survival.

Although City are back in the relegation zone after Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace, they are unbeaten in three top-flight matches.

It was the fourth league game in succession that Dean Smith has been able to name the same back four, with Gibson alongside skipper Grant Hanley and full-backs Max Aarons and Brandon Williams.

The eight Premier League matches started with that back four this season have seen just eight goals conceded – out of a total of 46 - and 12 of the team’s 17 points collected.

“We do a lot more tactical work,” explained Gibson, who made his 50th appearance for the Canaries during the draw. “Every manager has different training sessions. The old manager (Daniel Farke) did a lot of possession-based sessions.

“We now do a lot more analysis of us. We work in units, so the back four spend a lot of time together. It’s maybe simplifying the message, getting us together and before - because of what we achieved last season and the way we did it - we’d be trying to press teams all over the park.

“There’s still the right time to do that but there’s also things like, if you look at the Wolves game (a 1-0 FA Cup win), we can sit back and we were in control of that game without having to control the ball, against a very good team.

“They had all the possession but we had the better chances and it should have been more than 1-0 in the end.

“So we’re basically just getting the basics right and the manager’s message is to get the basics right, to have a foundation and then we can build from there, because he believes that we’ve got the ability to do so.”

Since Smith replaced Farke in early November, the game averages are up across the board.

City are scoring more goals per game, up from 0.45 to 0.75, conceding fewer, down from 2.36 to 1.66, and accumulating more points, up from 0.45 to one.

That improvement – in spite of a wretched December – came once Smith and Craig Shakespeare arrived, with Gibson praising the character of the vastly-experienced assistant manager.

“He’s class. A great guy, really funny guy. Always a smile on his face but then, at the same time, when he speaks, you listen,” the defender said of Shakespeare, speaking to the Talk Norwich City podcast.

“He says what needs to be said and he’s just honest, really honest, straight to the point, but it’s a joy to work with him.

“When him and the gaffer came in, I had texts from people that have worked with them in the past and they said ‘you’re going to love working for those two’. So far, we certainly have.”

- You can listen to the full interview in the video above