Norwich City head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup feels Middlesbrough’s Championship visit could be one for the purists.

City emerged with points from bruising away days at Stoke and Preston in the past few days but Michael Carrick’s side will present a unique set of problems at Carrow Road on Sunday afternoon.

“A completely different challenge, because Preston was more man marking, or actually completely man marking especially in midfield,” said the Dane. “This is another type of team, where they're more defending spaces, they're more covering spaces as a unit to see if they can make us force a pass into certain areas where they can intercept the ball from us.

"It's a good test for where we are now as a group. Only Leeds in the league have had more passes so a good game in prospect.

“We have to be good in our positional game. We have to be strong in our positions, we have to anticipate the game well. We have to create certain patterns, offensively, that we can rely on and we know that we can do, no matter what they are doing.

"That's the first task for us to get control in the game, to take the ball, because it is obviously also a team who like to be on the ball as well. So that will be the first battle in the game, who will take care of the ball? That will give us some signs after five or 10 minutes, but a completely different game compared to the other two we just have had.

"They have a very clear style of play. It seems like the players are comfortable in what they're doing, and they try to do it even though they're a little bit under pressure, or even though the scoreboard in the game is not perfect for them. That's impressive.

"When they are good, they are very good. We have to respect that. But I think, like all the other games we play, it's so much down to us, and it's so much up to how well we can start the game, how well we can find the rhythm in the game, and then, to be very front-footed in our pressing to make sure that the space is tight and we cover the space well for each other, and we don't allow them too much time on the ball.”

Middlesbrough boss Michael Carrick has completed a league double over Norwich City in each of the last two Championship seasons (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd)

Carrick has won all four of his previous City meetings, but Norwich will have gone a full year unbeaten at Carrow Road if they keep this week’s run going.

Throup warns they will have to be much better than dredging a point at Preston on Tuesday from being 2-0 down inside the opening 12 minutes.

“We should expect this is going to be a tight one, a game maybe decided by one or two goals,” said Thorup. “So definitely there will be moments in the game, like all the others we've had so far in the season, where we have to defend and need that support, and there will definitely also be moments where we are on top and we can get that extra boost from the stands, more or less when you have the feeling that they are creating the goal together with us.

"That will be important for us, and I think what's also important is that hopefully we can get another good performance at home, and give the fans a good Sunday.

“We have to be better (than the Preston game). It was not a good enough performance from us. Our mentality showed that we really tried to keep on pushing, we tried to create chances, and we tried to score goals and go for the win.

"It's great to see, obviously, but from a performance perspective, we have higher ambitions than that, and we have to make sure that we can be better going away from home.”