What the international break means for Norwich City

In Norwich's case, they're not competitive games, not qualifying games, not Nations League games that our players are involved with. They are friendlies. Don't get me wrong, I understand the importance of friendlies, especially for maybe the likes of Scotland who've got the Euros in June. But when you've had a long slog of the season, when you've got players who have missed parts of the season through injury, you've got to be careful.

I've always said it, I'll always maintain it - if you're a club manager you have to have a good relationship with national team managers. You can't mess them about, you can't upset them because at the end of the day, national team managers will do what's best for them because they've got the right to do that.

And I get the argument they don't pay the players’ wages, which is very, very true. But for certain weeks in the season they are released to go play for their country.

Angus Gunn being put through his paces during a Scotland training session (Image: PA Images)

So I'm delighted that common sense has prevailed with Josh Sargent being withdrawn from the US squad.

Obviously David Wagner would have been in contact with the American national team manager as well as the Scotland manager, Steve Clarke, who has Angus Gunn and Kenny McLean in his squad and had Grant Hanley until he was pulled out.

Grant Hanley - still getting back to his best after an Achilles injury (Image: Matt Wilkinson/Focus Images Ltd)

Clarke is not a stupid man. He knows how important Grant Hanley is for Scotland so he doesn't want to risk any type of injury to him or Kenny or Angus between now and the end of the season. The Scots have got two friendlies coming up and I would hope that both Angus and Kenny would possibly play only one of those games.

They don't need to play. Hopefully Steve Clarke might use it as a bit of an experimental couple of friendlies, maybe have a look at what he's got, maybe have a look at players who he hasn't seen too much of since he's taken over. The most important thing for Clarke is when it comes to mid-May, the end of May, whenever he picks his squad for  the Euros, that he's got a full quota of players.

Norwich originally had four players, who are the spine of their team, going away on international duty. If something had happened, that could be the difference between the Championship and Premier League football.

Josh Sargent is being carefully managed by Norwich (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd)

You cannot afford to lose any of those four players in these last eight – hopefully 11 - games.

Of course, not all teams want this break, because of the way it can halt momentum.

I look at the top of the Championship and I see Leeds, 12 wins in their last 13 games, they’ve kept 10 clean sheets in13 games. It's the last thing they need. Ipswich - seven wins out of eight. They don’t want a two-week break before their next game. Leicester, on the other hand, it's come at exactly the right time for them, because I think it's one win in five in the league for them.

Norwich also won’t have wanted this break, even though it gives you some time to recharge the batteries and get a little bit of freshness into your legs. They have eight cup finals ahead so it probably isn't what they need because they're playing so well, full of confidence.

But the important thing here is momentum - Leeds have got it, Ipswich have got it, Norwich have got it. None of them will want to lose it.

Wembley wishes

Mark Robins (Image: PA Images)

Good to see my old mate Mark Robins taking Coventry into the semi-finals of the FA Cup – and I think it’s good for Norwich as well.

I’m chuffed to bits for Robbo to have a semi-final at Wembley against Manchester United – and he’s a boyhood United fan.

Coventry are on Norwich’s heels in the chase for a play-off place, but will their cup exploits prove costly? It's another game, another league game, they are going to have to play a little bit later in the season.

And then there are the players – after getting to the play-off final last season and missing out, going up is the priority. But you don't want a distraction and mentally, it is hard in the games leading up to the semi-final to make sure you are fully committed - you don't want to get injured.

Politics and sport, eh?

Derby day (Image: PA Images)

I’ve just had a weekend off, not because I wanted to.

I should have been in Swansea working on the south Wales derby against Cardiff. I've been working for BBC Radio Wales now since 2006, doing it in the Welsh language of course, so I was meant to be there working with Radio Cymru.

A couple of weeks ago I was told we weren't going to be doing the game because it was 12.30pm kick-off and it clashed with the announcement of the new First Minister of Wales.

Sadly for me, that took priority. It's the first derby I've missed since about 2006 and it was hard, because I love going to any derby game. I just hated missing it.

I did keep an eye on it from home, then I kept a close eye on what was going on up in Stoke with Norwich. Then I watched Wales get beat by Italy in the Six Nations so, all in all, what you’d call a mixed weekend for me.