Norwich City boss David Wagner expects Sunderland to have 'the hunger' to make amends for their Stoke City thrashing when they arrive at Carrow Road this weekend - but insists he does not care. The Black Cats head to Norfolk on Sunday still smarting from their 5-1 defeat at the hands of the Potters, which was their third reverse in a row.
Canaries chief Wagner knows Tony Mowbray's side will be desperate to put that result behind them and get back on course after dropping out of the play-off places, however he says that is something he cannot influence and therefore is irrelevant to him. "When you get beaten you have the hunger to correct it," said Wagner, whose side won 3-2 at Millwall last weekend to make it three wins in a row and move up to sixth place.
"Whether Sunderland had won, lost or drawn I can't influence it. This means I don't care, I'm focused on us and we have to make sure whatever their recent result was that we play to our best and that we have the greatest support possible on Sunday to be successful again.
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"I'm just happy we have another full week to prepare, like we did for Millwall, and then obviously there are two further games after Sunderland before the international break."
Sunderland have sold out their full allocation for the lunchtime fixture with more than 1,800 fans due to make the 500-mile round-trip for a match that is also being screened live on Sky Sports. And with that wave of Red and White support heading to East Anglia, Wagner has urged Norwich fans to crank up the atmosphere at Carrow Road.
He said: "If we want to push for the playoffs and for promotion, we only do it together. I think the players deserve every credit and every support for the next home game on Sunday.
"That is a very important game for us, this should be the loudest Carrow Road in ages, before the kick-off the atmosphere should be electric, because it's very, very important that we create something where we can have the chance to be successful and win again. Yes, we are in the top six but if the table was irrelevant for the last eight weeks why should it now be important?
"The only important thing is Sunday and Sunderland. I'm pretty sure a top energy from the stands will help us.
"And this is what we need. The energy which they [Norwich's travelling fans at Millwall] gave us was important. We took this energy and used it on the pitch as well."
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