Lambert expected Norwich to thrive

Norwich City manager Paul Lambert has not been surprised by his team’s solid first season back in the English Premier League.

Norwich finished second in the Championship last term, earning them automatic promotion along with title-winners Queens Park Rangers.

But while QPR find themselves inside the relegation zone with eight games of the Premier League campaign remaining, Lambert’s men are 11th and practically assured of retaining their top-flight status.

“We’re not safe yet, mathematically anyway, but we have given ourselves a right good chance to stay in the league,” he said.

“Is it a surprise? No, because I always had a great belief in the team that they could win more games than not and I think we’ve done fantastically well.”

Lambert hailed his players’ fighting spirit and believes two consecutive promotions helped to instil a stubborn winning mentality that has served them well in the top flight.

“I think there’s inner belief in ourselves, which is great,” he said.

“I think they’ve got a big belief that they can go and win games. That momentum has stood them in good stead and given them a winning mentality.

“They’ve had that for a couple of years now. I’m pretty sure if you ask most of them, they wouldn’t want to go back to being beaten four and five in a row and not winning games consistently.

“I think they’ve got that winning mentality in their game now.”

Steve Morison has been a mainstay for the Welsh national side this season, while Grant Holt is an outside bet to make England’s Euro 2012 squad after an impressive campaign.

Lambert duly lavished both strikers with praise.

“I think it’s great for them as individuals, it’s great for their careers and great for their morale,” he said.

“Morison was already playing for Wales when he was at Millwall, so he has just carried that on.

“Holty, coming from where he came from, (it) has been a dramatic rise in his career and people are speaking about him playing for England,” he added, referring to 30-year-old Holt’s journeyman career in the lower leagues.

“What the two of them have done for me has been brilliant.”

Norwich are away to 13th-placed Fulham in the Premier League on Saturday.