Back in 1970, Canadian singer Joni Mitchell sung a song called Big Yellow Taxi which featured the iconic line ‘... that you don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone’.

Norwich Evening News: Emi Buendia - the most important player in City's run-in? Picture: Tony ThrussellEmi Buendia - the most important player in City's run-in? Picture: Tony Thrussell (Image: Archant)

I’m sure a lot of people up and down the country have sung that line recently – I know I have.

People who know me, will know that apart from my family, the most important things to me are my football, running races and attending my boot camp gym BTF. But I’m experiencing just like the majority of people in the country – these have either been cancelled or majorly restricted.

Over the last three months I have been able to do virtual gym sessions, but on my own, at home, without my fellow gym buddies; running, but not with friends or taking part in any races, and I haven’t been able to watch Norwich play.

However much I love to see City play, a big part of enjoying football is the people you are with. I haven’t been able to meet up with my three brothers and many good friends I have made through Norwich City. My brothers have all got season tickets and we all sit together but as two of them live away, football can be the excuse to get together and have a pint, have a chat and watch the game.

I expect this is the same for a lot of other supporters and even though the Premier League is now restarting, this still won’t be able to happen due to matches being ‘behind closed doors’.

I totally appreciate and respect the decision to not have fans at the ground as the health and safety of people is most important, but it will be extremely weird to know the game is being played and we can’t attend.

There is usually a lot of excitement and build-up before a game, but I think this is going to be a struggle for me because I thrive off the atmosphere and the buzz of match day. This is going to be the first time in 12 years that I have not been at a game held at Carrow Road. There are a lot of other fans I know who have even longer consecutive runs, some even home and away without a break, some even as far back as the 1980s.

Come tomorrow at 6pm we will all still be there watching the game from home and supporting our beloved football club – I’m not sure my little girl will be happy as this means she is not going to be able to watch children’s TV, but I’m sure she will get to love the football instead as we will be watching a lot from home.

The opening line of that song Big Yellow Taxi is ‘They Paved Paradise’. I’m sure the players will want to pave success and hopefully it will start in paradise at Carrow Road tomorrow.

Can City survive?

Even the most optimistic Canary in me is struggling to believe that we can stay up. We may know more after we have our two home games under our belt but this team has surprised us over the last two years and I won’t bet against them surprising us again.

Who will be relegated?

I think the three teams that will be relegated at the end of the season will be Norwich, Bournemouth and Brighton.

Who is the most important player/person for City for the rest of the season?

Where Tim Krul has been the best up until lockdown, I think our main player will need to provide the goals. We are going to need to score more than defend goals. So I think our main player is going to be Emi Buendia. His performances don’t always show how well he has been playing, but the stats do, Emi has the best stats for creating opportunities and I think this is what we are going to need for the rest of the season.

On The Ball, City