Neil warns Norwich of Chelsea threat

Norwich City manager Alex Neil is wary of Chelsea turning their dismal slump around when his team visit Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

Jose Mourinho’s men saw their ailing title defence take another significant blow when they lost 1-0 at Stoke City before the international break – a seventh defeat in 12 Premier League outings this season.

It means the reigning champions will entertain Norwich a point and a place behind their visitors in 16th but Neil knows they are more than capable of making it a difficult outing for his side.

“Everybody’s looking at Chelsea every week and expecting them to turn it around,” he told a news conference.

“For whatever reason, Jose will know better than me why, that hasn’t been the case.

“Their capability of what they have got as a squad is really high. It’s no secret that they have not been at that capability.

“We have to play as well as well can. If we do what we know we can then we can get a chance of a result.”

Norwich almost earned a share of the spoils against Manchester City at the end of last month – the Premier League leaders needing an 89th-minute penalty from Yaya Toure to seal a 2-1 win.

As was the case at the Etihad Stadium, Neil is keen for his players to impose themselves on the contest against Chelsea.

“We’ve got to make it difficult for Chelsea, but we also have to implement our style on the game too,” he added.

Norwich have Nathan Redmond available for the match after the winger returned to training this week following a thigh injury.