Why City have to create nervous energy against Leeds

This is the fourth full season that I've done this job, and this season has been by far the most bewildering, difficult to call and hardest to analyse. 

It has felt in a constant state of flux. The lows have been deep and the highs have been caveated. The fan base split. The head coach much-maligned despite a remarkable comeback from that difficult autumn. 

Throw in weird stories and staff changes, and it only scratches the surface of what has been a season like no other. For the vast majority of it, Norwich have felt light years away from the Premier League. At points, it felt desperate, in tatters and hurtling for disaster. 

Yet here we are. Remarkably, here we are. 

Regardless of the view on how they've done it and the criticisms, some of which are valid, about approach, they have a ticket in the lottery. David Wagner and his squad deserve immense credit for that given the backdrop to how it's been achieved. 

As Chris Goreham wrote in his column this week, there is an award-winning documentary to be recorded should Norwich go and achieve that picture book ending. It would seem like destiny if it was Kenny McLean and Grant Hanley lifting a trophy on the balcony of Wembley that was the lasting image of this campaign. 

But for a while, it's felt destined to be a showdown with Farke. Maybe that is why the weird atmosphere that has followed this season has been sustained ahead of a massive semi-final.

That feeling isn't unique to Norwich. A quick peek over the garden fence into Yorkshire shows that Leeds are having similar, if not more drastic, wobbles. Farke hasn't found the stardust he sprinkled all over Carrow Road in those two title-winning campaigns. 

This will be tough for Norwich. Leeds have achieved 90 points - the last team to reach that number and fail to be automatically promoted was Sunderland in 1997/98. They lost on penalties in the play-off final to Charlton. 

Nobody should underestimate the quality in their ranks. A front four of Crysencio Summerville, Georgino Rutter, Willy Gnoto and Joel Piroe with Patrick Bamford, Dan James, Jaiden Anthony and Archie Gray to add to the mix shows the quality Norwich will face. 

But there is immense pressure on Farke to deliver a Premier League return, both financially and from an expectation perspective. Norwich have to do all they can to chip away at some of those insecurities and doubts. 

That might mean deliberately creating nervousness and keeping it tight. Norwich have match-winners and moment makers who can settle fine-margin contests. 

David Wagner and his squad have done remarkably to turn the season on its head. (Image: Focus Images)

Leeds have better players than Norwich. A better squad. But that doesn't guarantee progression. 

Farke's side head into this having lost four of their last six. That does create pressure; throw in the historical trauma that Leeds supporters associate with the play-offs and that is an added reason to try and keep the contest nervy. 

If Norwich can head to Elland Road with something to defend, then they have every chance. What has gone before is now meaningless. It is a straight shootout. Every inch, moment and yard counts. 

Throughout the second half of the season, Norwich have had to contend with pressure and countless big games. They have risen to meet those throughout - that tricky spell in the autumn may actually have created a powerful sense of togetherness that will be vital. 

It could have been fifth. Perhaps it should have been - but, in reality, Norwich will likely have to beat Leeds and Southampton if they want to earn another shot at the Premier League. 

Over the next two weeks, there can be no talk of what the future holds, or the difficulties of the top flight. As soon as that happens and minds are allowed to wander, the opposition will be able to strike. 

Football is so often about tomorrow. But for Norwich, they cannot look beyond the today. Two games. 180 minutes (plus maybe more...) to try and get to Wembley. That is where the energy needs to go. 

It felt like fate for Norwich City to reunite with Daniel Farke. (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd)

Countless people are telling me it feels like fate that Norwich come through, given how the season has unfolded and its sheer ridiculousness at points. That is why a reunion with Farke felt inevitable in the final weeks. In a season of twists and turns, it is the start of a final chapter that holds even more mystique. 

Everyone in football loves comeback stories - you'd be hard-pressed to find a bigger one than Wagner and his squad getting promoted under the Wembley arch.

In so many ways, that would be the perfect, maddening conclusion to a breathless campaign that has tested everyone.  But those dreams have to wait. First, it is about overcoming a very strong Leeds side.