Iwan Roberts:

After beating Sheffield United for their eighth win in 10 Championship games, Norwich are now closer to the play-off positions than they are to the relegation zone.

What a job Philippe Clement has done since he arrived: it was his 12th league win in 21 games and he’s won 39 points from those games - in any other season that would be promotion form.

Sheffield United had lost only two of their previous nine games and that was against the top two so they aren’t easily turned over.

After conceding a sloppy avoidable goal the lads showed the character, spirit and belief you need to be successful and made a second-half comeback.

Every sub made an impact. Paris Maghoma was magnificent again, Pelle Mattsson picked up where he’d left off before his injury. Errol Mundle-Smith showed that he can be a handful with his pace and Amankwah Forson made the best impact by scoring the winning goal after Jack Stacey - who was superb all night - levelled with his header from a corner kick after 68 minutes.

There’s a true belief about this group of players; the club has been united and it’s great to see a real feelgood factor about the place once again.

There is still talk of City getting into the play-offs and I think you've got to believe that.

Yes, it's a long shot. I mean, possibly they'd have to win eight or nine of their next 10 and rely on other teams to drop points.

They're on a great run - in 2026, in the league, no one's won more points, no one's scored more goals, no one's conceded fewer goals than Norwich, so they are the in-form side.

The win over Sheffield United cut the gap between themselves and sixth-placed Wrexham to nine points. I look at Wrexham's fixtures, they've got Swansea tonight at The Racecourse, they've got to go to Birmingham, they've got Southampton to play and their last two games are Middlesbrough and Coventry.

So you've got to still believe that while it might take a minor miracle, it's not impossible. They've got to carry on the way they have done.

Clement won four of his first 11 games when he took over. He won eight of the next 10.

People say to me, what do you deem success? For me, it's not how high you finish in the league, it's do you finish with more points than you did the previous season?

They finished 13th last year, 57 points so they need 10 points to beat that - that's the first target for me, especially after the first half of the season.

You still have to have that belief within that dressing room that you carry on what you're doing, carry on playing like you have been, you might need some favours – in that top half, there will be teams that will be playing each other, they're going to take points off each other and they'll have pressure on them.

Norwich can go out with a freedom. No one expected them to be anywhere near the play-offs. When he took over, they were second from bottom, dead and buried, people talking about League One. It still needs a footballing miracle, don't get me wrong. But we've seen stranger things happen. It’s just a shame there’s only nine games to go.

Also, Norwich go to Southampton next week and there’s still Ipswich to come at Carrow Road so they can have a big say who finishes in those play-off positions – and whether they do as well.

You've got a responsibility as well to the league. If you're bottom half, you've got no chance of going down, you've got no chance of going up, I think you still have a responsibility to go and perform to the best of your ability.

Vladan Kovacevic - should he have started the cup game at Leeds? (Image: Matt Wilkinson/Focus Images Ltd)

The FA Cup is over for another season after the 3-0 defeat at Leeds- I didn't think it would be that comfortable, to be fair, considering Philippe Clement went strong, with only the one change.

He started the same outfield 10 as he did in the league win at Leicester with just a change of keeper, which a part of me doesn't quite understand.

I know he has rotated that position in the cup competitions and given Dan Grimshaw his opportunities, but when you're within 90 minutes of the quarter-final, I think you've got to play your best players.

You could say it was a second string Leeds United, because Daniel Farke made nine changes. If you look at the players that started for them, you've got the likes of Ethan Ampadu, Gabriel Gudmundsson, Sean Longstaff, Dan James, Joel Piroe, Wilfried Gnonto so they still had a lot of quality. In my opinion, that starting XI is good enough to challenge for the Championship.

Tough times for Preston manager Paul Heckingbottom (Image: PA Images)

Everyone knows the form Norwich have been in since the turn of the year - it's been a complete turnaround for tomorrow’s visitors Preston.

I thought Paul Heckingbottom and his team, first half of the season, were outstanding. But performances and results have definitely dipped since Harrison Armstrong went back to Everton after a loan. They’d signed him and Alfie Devine from Spurs, and they were good.

Preston have won only once in their last 11 and they've got one win in their last seven away from home, and Norwich will be looking at back-to-back home wins which increases your ambitions of finishing in that top eight, top six.

I’ve got fond memories of Preston down there. I'd been out for six weeks with an injury and it was my first game back. We played them on a Friday night, a game on telly. Nigel (Worthington) threw me straight back in. I'd only been training a few days.

We won 3-1 and I think I might have scored the first from a header after a great ball from Steen Nedergard. Great free kick in, good contact on the header. Because I couldn't really do a lot with my hamstring I'd been in the weights room at Colney so I'd really toned myself up and I thought, ‘I'm going to show my new physique off’ and I ripped my shirt off and got booked, but it was worth it.

You can’t compare the form that the two teams in. One team are riding the crest of a wave, really enjoying the football, really full of confidence. And on the other side, even though I bet Paul Heckingbottom, will say it completely different, that they'll still think they've still got a chance in the top six, they need their form to change sharply.

If one of these two teams on Saturday can't wait for the season to finish, it won't be the team in yellow.

Philippe Clement missed the manager of the month award again - I don't think it will worry him very much.

The Southampton head coach won it after getting one more point in his five games last month, so it is hard to argue.

If you look at the games that Norwich did win last month, they were lower end teams, but I think in the position that they were, because they still weren't out of trouble, they were going into those games with the pressure on them - they could not afford to drop points.

The play-offs next season will have six teams in it - if it's not broke, don't try and fix it. I hate the idea.

I think you're rewarding mediocrity - where do we stop?

I know sometimes it's close between sixth and eighth and while people say it gives teams more of a chance of promotion, well, every team's got a chance at the start of the season.