As Norwich City prepare to welcome promotion rivals QPR to Carrow Road this evening, it marks the start of a window of opportunity for them to grasp.

Following a poor run of form which ended with a 3-1 win over Stoke on Saturday - where the goals were impressive but the performance still raised plenty of questions - the aim will now be to back it up.

Those three points were vital to the outlook - now they are back in the top six and suddenly the world feels a brighter place.

Given the pressure that was mounting on Dean Smith, it was all about the result rather than the performance.

Hopefully, that result will ease the unhelpful grumble brigade that have been at Carrow Road this season. Some of the supporters have seemingly made their minds up on him and won't be altered in their outlook.

I argued last week that City's head coach required more time. But he still has work to do in winning over supporters and the next three games prior to the World Cup break feel like an opportunity to do just that - even if it is just to calm everyone down.

Primarily, it will be about positioning themselves inside the top six ready for a tilt at promotion in the second half of the campaign, with an acceptance from everyone that improvement is required.

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