Norwich City head coach Dean Smith has added his tribute following the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Smith and his squad return to Championship action against Bristol City on Wednesday at Carrow Road after the national game postponed the weekend programme as a mark of respect to the former Monarch.

The City head coach and his players and backroom staff had already travelled to the north-west on Thursday when the official announcement was made. The club's Friday night league game at Burnley was postponed later the same night.

A minute's silence will be held before all midweek matches, with black armbands to be worn by the participants, flags to be flown at half-mast and the national anthem to be played in stadiums.

Smith gave his first public reaction at Colney on Tuesday morning.

When did you hear the news?

We flew up to Burnley on the Thursday afternoon. And we had literally just got to the hotel when we found out Her Majesty had passed away. At that stage we felt that there was every danger of the game being postponed. Within the hour we were told the game was going to be postponed as a mark of respect.

Did you have to explain the situation to the overseas players?

To be honest, no, it wasn't difficult. That probably shows you what the world thought of our Queen. We didn't have to say an awful lot to them. Just watching the news over the last four or five days we've got the French prime minister speaking in English and we've got the Canadian prime minister almost in tears, which just shows you how much she touched the world, not just our country, or the Commonwealth.

A lot of other sports did continue over the weekend. Was that the right call for football not to follow suit?

I don't think they could have made the right decision. If we called it off, some people would be saying that we should have played and if we had played other people would be saying we should have called it off.

It's like the manager on the touchline. Do you wear a tracksuit or a suit? You know, if you wear a tracksuit some people say you should wear a suit, if you wear a suit some people say you should wear a tracksuit. I think it was a no win situation. They did what they felt was appropriate at the time. And I think you have to be supportive of that.

How important is it to pay respect at these next games?

It's really important. I think all supporters, all players, all staff will want to pay respect for somebody who led the country so well, for so long. She's the only Monarch a lot of people have ever known. It's going to be a real tough act to follow but one that I'm sure our new King can follow, given the upbringing he's had with Her Majesty.

We look forward to our King now leading us as well.

Did you ever meet Her Majesty?

I didn't, no. I've met the new Prince of Wales, obviously, a number of times with his Aston Villa connection. But no, I never met the Queen. I always wanted to but no, unfortunately not. Prince William had been to the (Villa) training ground a number times. He opened the new performance centre a few years ago. He came down to talk to us before our League Cup final against Manchester City. I've met him four or five times.