Norwich City midfielder Tom Trybull is ready to leave his heart on the pitch as he prepares for City’s Boxing Day crunch match against Aston Villa.

The Canaries are desperate for points following a dispiriting defeat to Wolves at the weekend, where they squandered a half-time lead at Carrow Road for the third consecutive home game.

Villa Park is the backdrop for an encounter between two sides low on confidence following concerning runs of form in the division.

City remain 19th in the division, with Watford's victory over Manchester United on Sunday bringing them level on points with Daniel Farke's men.

Dean Smith's side have slipped into the relegation zone following a run of five Premier League games without a victory.

That context tees up a pivotal match for both sides on Thursday, where three points could revive either side's hopes this season. Trybull insists City are ready to back up their positive performances with results as they fight to climb out of the relegation zone.

"It's an important game for us and for Villa but I'm very positive because when I judge the last game against Wolves, we definitely deserved three points and we showed a great performance," he said.

"We travel to Villa with some self-confidence because we are in a good shape and I'm looking forward to getting the three points."

Trybull was speaking at a signing session to launch his wife Anna's new book based on the trials and tribulations of his career.

The last time City faced Villa saw them heavily beaten 5-1 in October, a result Trybull says is an anomaly caused by the depth of City's injury crisis.

"You have to mention that we had a lot of injured players and that was a hard time for a squad because people played together for the first time," said Trybull, who has featured 11 times so far this season.

"The squad wasn't used to playing together and you can't expect that in one game everything will work well.

"Villa was, at that time, in a good shape and we have to make sure it doesn't happen again but we will travel there in a good mood and leave our hearts out on the pitch."