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Norwich boss Smith lays out early plans for Championship return

Norwich City boss Dean Smith knows they will have little time to adjust to being a Championship club again.

The Canaries are dropping back out of the Premier League after just one season, their fate sealed with four matches left to play.

It was always going to be a tall order for Smith and assistant Craig Shakespeare to turn things around at Carrow Road after inheriting a squad which had already come up short in the top flight for former boss Daniel Farke.

“We have got two games to finish the Premier League season and then we are a Championship club again. We have to get around that very quickly," said Smith, who took Aston Villa up through the play-offs in 2019.

“I would have wanted this fight to stay in the Premier League to go on as long as it could.

“It hasn't, but it gives us that advantage then of knowing where we are next season and looking for what we need to do and plan a little bit earlier, which is what we have been doing."

Smith also said: “What is really good for me now is that we have got a pre-season to work with the players because that is where you get the majority of your tactical and physical work in.

“We will be working on four points in terms of our style of play and what we are looking for and we can get that drummed into them during pre-season."

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