DEAN THERE, DONE THAT!
DEAN SMITH is confident of pulling off a hat-trick of amazing relegation escapes.
If Norwich clinch safety this season it will be deja vu all over again for the Canaries boss.
Smith led Walsall to last-gasp glory in his first managerial job in 2011. He repeated the trick for Aston Villa in 2019-20, after the Villans had looked doomed to drop out of the Premier League.
Norwich will kick-off at fellow strugglers Leeds today six points below the hosts. But with 30 points still up for grabs, don’t tell Smith that his Canaries can’t bridge such a gap.
He said: “It certainly can be done and that’s what we have to cling to. While there is a chance there is a way.
“When I took over at Walsall we were eight points adrift and had played four games more than everybody else in League One. It was mission impossible.
“We ended up losing on the last day at Southampton, but
Peterborough beat Dagenham 5-0, so we stayed up.
“I remember going into lockdown 2020 and many people had Aston Villa certain to go down. We stayed up by winning two and drawing two of the last four games.”
Smith hopes Kosovan flier Milot Rashica can give Leeds a fright – he terrified Chelsea for 45 minutes on Thursday night.
Smith said: “He produced some big moments and he’s got more freshness for this game.”