Norwich City head coach Dean Smith has 'no regrets' over criticism of fans

Norwich City head coach Dean Smith says that he has "no regrets" over recent comments he made in which he said that he was glad that the Canaries' next game is away from home.

Large sections of the Carrow Road crowd called for Smith to be sacked both during, and after, their 2-0 defeat to promotion rivals Blackburn Rovers on December 17.

That led to Smith telling the press after the match that some supporters had "been waiting" for the team to fail and a "narrative" had been set about their perceived negative style of play.

Smith added that he felt like "we have to score two very quick goals at home to get people on our side” and he was pleased that their match on Boxing Day against Luton Town wasn't at home.

Speaking to the media again on Friday ahead of the trip to Kenilworth Road, Smith was asked whether he regretted what he said.

He replied: "No, no regrets at all. I've got no apologies to make for what I said after the game.

"But my intention was not to drive a wedge, my intention is always to bring the place together."

Smith did concede that recent results and performances at home "haven't been good enough" but said that away from home, the team had been "really good."

Despite their recent poor form, Norwich remain fifth in the Championship, but crucially, are now closer to the bottom three than the leaders Burnley.

With pressure continuing to mount, Smith, who led Aston Villa to promotion from the Championship via the play-offs in 2019, has called everyone at the club to pull together in order to get them through what is becoming a testing period.

"I believe we can build a team that is capable of getting promoted but also staying in the Premier League - but we need to build that together," he said.

"I understand the frustrations of our supporters because they want to see free-flowing football, just as I do. I've done that before at other clubs and left other clubs in healthier states than I found them in and my job here is to do exactly the same."

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