Strong criticism of Norwich City’s struggles will make no difference inside the Canaries dressing room, skipper Grant Hanley has said as he calls for unity and hard work.

City’s disappointing return to Premier League life plumbed new depths as they disintegrated during a 7-0 thumping at Chelsea on Saturday, leaving them bottom with just two points and two goals from nine games.

Having conceded 23 during that winless start to the campaign, some are already questioning if Daniel Farke’s squad could threaten the record Premier League low of 11 points, set by a dreadful Derby team in 2007-08.

“People wrote us off a long time ago, people always write us off, so that’s not something that will bother us,” said Hanley.

“People can say what they want and will continue to. There’s a truth inside the dressing room that most people won’t see. We know what that is.

“So we’ll keep our heads down, keep working hard and that’s all we can do.”

The Scotland defender is in his fourth season as City skipper and has plenty of experience of Championship joy and top-flight misery.

The 29-year-old insists it is not just down to him to show leadership though, having kept Kai Havertz relatively quiet at Stamford Bridge.

“It’s not just me, it’s the whole dressing room, the senior lads, the young lads and everyone in between, he added.

“Everyone has got to have a look at themselves and we have got to do better. Everyone has got to do better – and that’s what it’s about.

“I keep saying it but there is no time to feel sorry for ourselves, to shirk any blame or responsibility.

“It’s time to have men in there, for people to stand up and be counted because if we want to have any sort of success this season, that’s what we need.”

The embarrassing loss has led to many fans calling for a change of head coach but Hanley wasn’t going to entertain such talk.

Asked if Farke is capable of engineering Premier League progress, he replied: “Of course he can. I don’t think that’s in any doubt in the dressing room. That’s not something that would even cross any player or any member of staff’s mind.

“We know what we are, we know our personality and the character of our side and that’s exactly what we need.

“So there’s no question that we will continue to be us, continue to be Norwich, continue to play our style but we’ll look to get better, we’ll work as hard as we possibly can to improve and that’s all I can say really about that.”

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