How Norwich City boss intends to 'kill' Fratton Park atmosphere and turn Portsmouth faithful into advantage for HIS side tonight

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Norwich boss Johannes Hoff Thorup has outlined how he will set his team up to tame Fratton Park's atmosphere tonight.

And the Dane has detailed his belief silencing Pompey's fans can turn playing at PO4 into an advantage for the Canaries.

John Mousinho’s side aim to climb out of the Championship drop zone under the Fratton lights this evening, with victory guaranteeing that reward.

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Thorup has his own plans to ensure that isn’t the case, however, with Norwich looking to return to winning ways after thumping in 10 goals in two fixtures before defeat to QPR on Saturday.

The 35-year-old is bullish about how he will set out to tame the Fratton faithful and Pompey’s high-pressing approach, which has seen an upturn in results of late.

Thorup believes there will be moments his team have to manage if Mousinho’s men gain momentum, but dominating possession will dampen Pompey’s backing - and turning down the volume can then work in Norwich’s favour.

Speaking at Norwich’s pre-match press conference, Thorup said: ‘The best way to kill the momentum in a stadium is to go there and play a lot of passes, especially from goal kicks,

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‘If you succeed a couple of times and kill their pressure you kill the momentum of them, you kill the intensity of them and most often you also kill the atmosphere in the stadium - which is something you need to consider when you go away from home.

‘But of course you have to accept it’s not always you can do that and we have more variations.

‘On the other hand you can use that (Fratton Park’s atmosphere) as an advantage for you.

‘It’s something they can feel as a home team if the crowd is suddenly not supporting them, or if it’s not that loud as they normally are.

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‘It actually turns into something that is not in their favour.

‘So it is something we can use, it is something we can definitely talk about and prepare how we handle.

‘And also those moments the crowd is supporting and the crowd is loud. There will be moments we have to defend and stick together to solve the situations and deal with the situations. It is a big factor, definitely.’

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