Tim Krul is not shying away from Norwich City’s need to return to winning ways at Bolton this weekend.
The Canaries lost their spot at the top of the Championship after Alex Neil’s Preston condemned City to their first league defeat on the road since August.
But Daniel Farke’s squad will have little time to stew on their rare feeling of defeat, given relegation-threatened Bolton Wanderers await at the University of Bolton Stadium come Saturday (3pm).
And goalkeeper Krul is going to pose the same question to his team-mates as the City supporters: how’s your reaction?
“We have been under pressure all season about having to win certain games and we have produced – so Saturday we need to put ourselves under a bit of pressure and say ‘yes, that’s a game we need to win now’,” said Krul.
“Listen, everybody will be looking at the table and seeing that Leeds won and all that – but we just need to look at ourselves.
MORE: Preston 3-1 Norwich City – How the Championship clash unfolded
“It’s 32 games in and we are up there. To be fair, we went to Leeds and everybody thought the pressure was on – and the boys stepped up to it. Same with the derby, the boys stepped up to it.
“Even at Preston, nobody fell through the ice in my opinion. Everybody worked hard. It was just a sloppy goal with giving a penalty away. It’s just one of those things. Luck wasn’t on our side.
“The last few weeks it has felt different because of the hype. Like the manager has said, we need to take it game by game but it’s easier said than done because you’re so excited about what could be.
“There is a big task ahead of us. Again, if we didn’t create anything at Preston I would’ve been really worried or upset about the whole situation. But we’ve created four or five great chances and if we play the way we did in the second half, we will get a win at Bolton.”
Krul added: “We all know what we are playing for and if there is ever a chance to do it, it is this season.
“We’ve had the big boys already, so now we just have to be ready for – on paper – what are the easier games. But again, there is no easy game in the next 14. They will all be hunting us because everybody wants to beat the teams who are challenging for promotion.
“So it’s going to be hard for sure, and we will need the fans behind us. Hopefully there is going to be loads travelling to Bolton on Saturday to support us because everybody should be behind us. We’ve been on a great run and I think we need to do this together.
“It’s no coincidence that we are up there after 32 games and we just have to stand up and be counted. If you really want to go to the Premier League, these are the months you have to show it.”
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