Portsmouth issued warning ahead of important Championship trip to Norwich

Instead, they’ve been told a Canaries side determined to finish the season strongly and with one eye on a top-six place next season awaits them on their arrival in Norfolk.

Both the Blues and Norwich head into the game with contrasting run-ins to the season.

Pompey, who sit 18th in the Championship table and four points above the drop zone with just four games left to play, still require vital league points if they are to guarantee their safety.

As for Johannes Hoff Thorup’s outfit, their hope of a finish inside the play-off places looks remote after a 2-1 defeat to Burnley last time out. Indeed, a fourth loss in six games leaves 13th-placed Norwich 10 points adrift of the top six and with a third consecutive season in the Championship on the cards for the out-of-form side.

The Blues will hope to use those facts and stats to their advantage as they aim to put uncertainty over their season to bed once and for all.

But according to Canaries midfielder Anis Ben Slimane, Pompey needn’t expect any favours from him or his team-mates when they rock up at Carrow Road on Friday. Rather, he insisted Norwich’s bid to be in promotion contention next season started now.

Speaking to BBC Radio Norfolk after the Burnley defeat, the 24-year-old said: ‘We met a team that was better than us and, hopefully, we can learn from them for the next four games and take that with us to finish off the season really well to be ready for next season because our ambition is definitely to be in the top six.

‘Every player has pride. It's not about “oh, we didn't make it to the top six, now we have nothing to play for really”.

‘No, we've got fans travelling and they come to support us and we have to show them that even though we can't give them top six, we will still work really hard to get three points and make them happy.

‘As a football player, you always have to be ready for the next task and right now it's maybe hard and looks a bit dark.

‘But we need to take the positive things from this season and finish off the season really well with the last four games.

‘We have an ambition to be a top team in this league and that starts from now.’

How things stand for Pompey

Currently sat on 46 points after Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Derby and with games against Norwich (A), Watford (H), Sheffield Wednesday (A) and Hull (H) remaining, John Mousinho and his team still have plenty of work to do between now and the end of the season.

The maximum points totals bottom-two-sides Plymouth (40) and Luton (40) can obtain is 52 - with both sides also having inferior goal differences than Pompey.

Third-from bottom Cardiff, who currently have 42 points in the bag, can reach the 54-point marker if they win all four of their remaining games. The Bluebirds also have an inferior goal difference.

With that in mind, seven points from 12 are still required for Pompey to guarantee their safety - a figure that will, of course, change depending on Friday’s result at Carrow Road and elsewhere in the division.

For your next Pompey read: Run-in ranked: How Pompey's fixtures compare to Derby County, Cardiff City, Plymouth Argyle & Co