Norwich City captain, Alex Tettey, has said that it’s hurt him to see the club facing relegation battles again, having been part of the team’s two relegation stories out of five in total.
The Canaries are currently rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table with 21 points, seven points adrift of the team on the edge of the relegation zone with five games to go.
The team needs a miracle to survive this time around as other teams like Aston Villa and Bournemouth, and Aston Villa are also looking to get out of the swamp as they are just one point adrift of the last team in the 17th position – Watford.
Norwich will have to begin the revival of their hope for another season in the Premier League with a visit to the Hawthorns, and Nigel Pearson’s boys would want to get better of the fellow strugglers on their turf.
Speaking with Sky Sports in an exclusive interview, the Norwegian who has been with the team through thick and thin since 2012 said the pain is obvious and can’t be shifted.
Norwich in a difficult situation – Tettey
Tettey, who was frank in his thought, was not sugar-coating Norwich’s current plight after losing at home to Brighton on Saturday.
While noting that the team is in a very difficult situation, the midfielder said he thought he was immune to relegation after experiencing it twice.
” I’ve experienced exactly what we’re going through before. I thought I’d think: ‘Yeah, I’ve been there, done that, I know how it feels, I know how to cope with it…’ but now it’s the same.
“It gets to you because you care. You care about the club, the team-mates, and it gets to you. You can say: ‘It’s just football,’ but it’s a struggle. I so want this club and my team-mates to be successful, that it’s tough to take. To be around relegation battle, it does something to you, mate, it’s not nice. It makes you stronger as a football player, being around this situation, how you cope with your emotions, but it’s not easy.”
Tettey, who has been one of few stand-out performers for Norwich, even during this difficult season, explained on many occasions that he had to take takes the pain of defeat and the threat of relegation home with him.
“For example, and I’ve had this a lot since I’ve been at Norwich, as a footballer player, playing massive games, which these games at the moment are in the relegation battle, it impacts you.
“You get home, and you are super moody, even to your kids and wife! You are like: ‘Please don’t talk to me.’ That’s how much it impacts us as players. How can you not talk to your kids and wife?! It’s just a football game. But it’s just a huge mental thing because you want to do better.”
