Iwan Roberts on how to tee up a Norwich City Christmas party

Winning there was a good start to the busiest month in the footballing calendar, seven games from that game to the end of the year, they come thick and fast, a game every four days. There are some winnable games in there, but obviously some difficult ones as well.

I was delighted to see Adam Idah get that late, late winner. He went away on international duty and got amongst the goals - I don't think the Republic have played that well, but if he is scoring goals at international level for the Republic that will only build his profile, because people take notice of that.

Scoring goals for Wales would have given me a massive lift, and he will take confidence from that goal he scored at Bristol, which was not an easy chance. He was cool and calm and he passed it in, didn't panic, got his balance right. It was cracking finish to take him to six Championship goals for the season now.

Borja Sainz celebrates City's late winner at Ashton Gate (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd)

The team should take confidence from that win as well. I heard that the lads had their Christmas party booked for the Sunday night - I hope they had an absolutely cracking night.

It reminds me, we played Tranmere away - I'm going back a few years, to December, 1999  – and Tranmere always used to play on Friday. We went up to Prenton Park and Nigel (Worthington) knew we had our Christmas party booked for the Saturday. You know what players are like - if you don't win, it’s cancelled.

And he warned us - he said if we get beat, if you don't get at least a point or a win, tomorrow's off, there's no Christmas party. There’s nothing you can do. We won 2-1, I scored both goals – and the first thought in my head when the second one went in was, we'll have a great day tomorrow!

So I hope the lads had a cracking night wherever they went with a bit of togetherness, a bit of team bonding, a laugh and a joke to celebrate the Bristol City win to start off with.

But now you've got to focus on a really busy month.

Norwich fans celebrate at Bristol City (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd)

Now the hope is that they can go and win the next two games, Preston on Saturday and Sheffield Wednesday at home next Wednesday ahead of the trip to Ipswich on December 16.

Preston – in their first seven games they won 19 points. They won six in a row – but they have won only nine points from their last 12 games, they've lost their last three.

New Sheffield Wednesday boss Danny Rohl (Image: PA Images)

Sheffield Wednesday on the other hand, I think that could be a different kettle of fish. They’ve got a new coach in Danny Rohl, at 34 the youngest coach in the division. I saw them at home to Leicester last week and they should have been 4-0 up at half-time, they should have been 2-0 up in four minutes when they had two unbelievable chances.

I think Sheffield Wednesday will be a tough game. I would expect Norwich to beat Preston because of the momentum that Norwich have got and vice versa because you've got a Preston side who, after the great start they've had, are showing relegation form.

If Norwich could get four points from these next two home games that would be acceptable - ideally you want two wins, but we don't live in a perfect world. They will be tested, especially against Sheffield Wednesday. Get Preston out of the way – I am very confident they can get three points - and then you've won four in five.

You start getting a bit of a swagger about you, start climbing that table slowly but surely, start closing that gap on the top six, start getting a better atmosphere around the place, even though the football might not be great.

I think if the fans can see this type of winning run getting better and better and better, then they'll forgive that performances aren’t. They can see them getting up towards that top six.

Fans already have their derby heads on – fans can do that, players can’t. If players lose their focus on the next game then they'll get beat, if they're thinking December 16, a week and a bit away…

The fans have been thinking about it for months. They have been since Ipswich got in the top two. ‘They’re going to batter us on the 16th’ - that's all I've been seeing on social media for months and months and months.

‘We play like this, we’re going to get battered at Portman Road’. The fans have been thinking about it for a long time because it's not happened for a while.

The players can't think about that. The derby will take care of itself. You've got to make sure you're in a good position after these next two games.

Alas, Smith and Jones

Delia Smith (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd)

I was disappointed to hear some of the things Delia Smith said at the club’s AGM.

Since I've been doing the column on these pages, I've said things that have never been personal, I've never attacked anybody, no personal vendettas. I always say things because I believe them and I know I've been critical of Delia in the past and I think I've annoyed her - I know I wouldn’t get the warmest of welcomes from her – it is what it is, I say things as I see it.

And I was disappointed with both of them, Delia and Michael Wynn Jones, with their comments about 'whingeing' City fans and their reactions to a couple of journalists’ questions.

You've got a young journalist - who's a fantastic journalist, by the way, in Connor Southwell - asking questions that supporters want to hear. And not just 20pc – if she thinks there's only 20pc of, as she called them, whingers, she needs a reality check.

You get 28,000 people at Carrow Road week in, week out. It's not 20pc that are booing, venting their frustration at what's happening at the football club at the minute.

I just thought they were rude and disrespectful.

It was disappointing and I don't want to go on about their age, but they're old people now. They've been fantastic for the football club. They took over a year before I joined and they’ve taken the club to the Premier League. They've got some major decisions right. They've got some big decisions wrong. They don't take criticism at all.

You’ve got to take the rough with the smooth. The club’s having a bad time, and they're the owners.

Delia and Michael have been at Norwich City for years, but when I listen to Mark Attanasio speak you can tell he's got a sporting background. You can tell he's got a plan. You can tell that not only does he know how to run a sporting franchise, but he also knows how to make money from doing that. I was really impressed with him, very, very impressed.

Not all American owners are that way inclined. There's a few bad ones around. But I think he made up the lack of respect from Delia – and I hate saying that, I don't like slagging them off. Not only did they show a lack of respect to Connor but to their fans as well.

Does she think it's any different at any other football club?

I go to Swansea a lot and they've got American owners, who are just asset stripping, selling their best players, not putting their hands in their pockets. They might argue they are. It's a poisonous atmosphere, absolutely poisonous.

I've been to Ipswich when Marcus Evans was in charge – poisonous. Every week, there are protests about the Glazers at Manchester United. Mike Ashley at Newcastle – the fans absolutely hated him.

She doesn’t get that sort of abuse, but she says, ‘when I go away, the fans I speak to, they think everything's great’. Of course they're going to say that, they’re not going to say that to your face are they?

It’s like any walk of life, any job anybody does, you've got to take the rough with the smooth.