Chris Lakey Glenn Roeder has ordered his players not to feel sorry for themselves after last week's daylight robbery in the west country - and hold their heads high as they attempt to negotiate a safe passage through the final five games of the Championship season.

Chris Lakey

Glenn Roeder has ordered his players not to feel sorry for themselves after last week's daylight robbery in the west country - and hold their heads high as they attempt to negotiate a safe passage through the final five games of the Championship season.

The Canaries find themselves just three points above the relegation zone going into today's home game against Burnley - and know that one slip could prove costly. Roeder points to last week's performance in the 2-1 defeat at leaders Bristol City as evidence that the Canaries have every right to be optimistic over the club's fate - even though they saw a point cruelly snatched from their grasp at the death because of a mistake by referee Andy D'Urso.

"I have always been optimistic," he said. "The lads haven't had what they deserved, but feeling sorry for yourself, self pity, is a useless human emotion.

"It's like a ball and chain around your legs, so whatever walk of life you are in don't go down the road of self pity or blame, just get on with it and carry on playing well.

"Nothing's changed. March has been an awful month and if you actually dissect it and look at the performance it's ridiculous that we only picked up four points. I would be a lot more concerned if it was four points picked up and the rest lost because we had played poorly.

"They have just got to continue playing like they did over the last few games, particularly Bristol City last week, and I am sure things will balance themselves out and we will be okay.

"They played fantastic last week - because one man can't get a Sunday morning football refereeing decision correct we get beat. If I never see D'Urso again I'd be the happiest man in the world."

While the stakes are high today, Roeder insisted those who share his mind-set would prevail - this afternoon and in the future.

"I find every game there is a lot at stake, for one word - pride," he said. "I don't care where I am in the table, the pride in winning the game is the most important thing. The league takes care of itself thereafter. I want to win everything I take part in and I want the culture of those players and players that come in and that we eventually develop at Norwich, that they all want to win whatever they take part in, whether it's an eight-a-side game out there during the week or a practice game.

"I always remember Thierry Henry when he'd been at Arsenal for about a year and he said, 'I could never understand when I came to Arsenal why Tony Adams, Steve Bould, Martin Keown, Nigel Winterburn, Lee Dixon, wanted to win every eight-a-side every day, I couldn't understand it'

"Thierry Henry understands now why and at that moment when he was saying it, that's when he became a great player. You can't switch on and off on a Saturday and not train well during the week, because those boys he mentioned - and I know a lot of those lads from England - they'd kick their grandmother to win anything. They are winners, that's why they have a stack full of medals.

"Thierry Henry obviously bought into it after a period of time and I think that's when he went from a very good player to a great player. That's what we have to have.

"They aren't hard to find, those characters, especially in a much softer environment that we live in now, because we do. Every generation is getting softer and it's my fault as a parent and your fault as parents if you have got kids - because you want to give them more all the time."