The magnitude of Norwich City's home clash with Brentford cannot be downplayed and skipper Grant Hanley knows that time is running out for the Canaries.

City have the small matter of a trip to Liverpool in the FA Cup fifth round to deal with first on Wednesday night, as Dean Smith’s players try to put Premier League survival worries to the back of their minds briefly.

Southampton dominated as they beat Norwich 2-0 on Friday but the gap to survival remained five points, in spite of Newcastle winning and both Burnley and Watford earning away draws.

Everton and Burnley still have two games in hand though, with Burnley having the chance to move out of the relegation zone when they host Leicester tomorrow.

Unless City start winning games though, results of their rivals are irrelevant, so Hanley will just be focusing on preparing for a Carrow Road occasion on Saturday that offers the chance of a survival spark against the out-of-form Bees.

"The games have been that way for a while for us now, to be honest. Every game is getting bigger and obviously next weekend is a big one,” the captain admitted.

"The fans have been unbelievable for us all season. We've had some tough times, also some good times, but they've been absolutely fantastic.

"We'll rely on them but it's up to us to give them something back, to give them something to get off their seat about, get behind us and cheer us on."

Hanley in particular can keep his focus on Brentford - who have managed just one win and one draw in their last 11 league matches – as he is suspended from FA Cup duty.

The Scotland defender was booked during the wins at Charlton and Wolves in the earlier rounds so serves a one-game ban while the Canaries look for a cup upset at Anfield, where they lost 3-1 in the league less than two weeks ago.

Hanley missed the Project Restart period of 2019-20 due to injury so could only watch from the sidelines as Daniel Farke’s squad nosedived to a miserable top-flight relegation behind closed doors.

He is holding on to hope of avoiding another grim conclusion though, saying: "We'll never stop believing.

“Everyone has worked so hard to put ourselves in this position, to play in the Premier League, so there's not a chance of us feeling sorry for ourselves or dwelling on disappointing results.

"We'll keep working hard and give our absolute all for this club, as always."

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