Norwich boss Bryan Gunn has been short listed for the Championship manager-of-the-month award.The Canaries' chief is nominated alongside promotion-chasing trio Mick McCarthy, Kevin Blackwell and Owen Coyle after picking up ten league points from a possible 15 in March to revive City's survival hopes.

Norwich boss Bryan Gunn has been short listed for the Championship manager-of-the-month award.

The Canaries' chief is nominated alongside promotion-chasing trio Mick McCarthy, Kevin Blackwell and Owen Coyle after picking up ten league points from a possible 15 in March to revive City's survival hopes.

Gunn's former Norwich manager Dave Stringer is not alone in hoping the popular Scot misses out when the winner is announced tomorrow lunchtime.

“There is a bit of a curse associated with it so I hope in a funny way he doesn't go on to win it,” said Stringer, who managed Gunn for five seasons at Carrow Road. “He has been on a good run but it was much needed - certainly if he hadn't had that we'd be dead and buried by now. It's still very precarious and he will know better than anyone they need to keep on winning to get the points we need in the league.

“It's going to be tight right to the end. You'd hope they could win every game but not even the top teams are managing that. I'm sure he has his own targets but really they need to get as many as possible.”

Stringer himself was a rookie boss when he replaced Ken Brown after a successful stint as youth team manager - but the 64-year-old guided Norwich to two FA Cup semi finals and a fourth-placed finish in the First Division.

“It was a brave decision for him to take it on in the first place having worked in a variety of roles but never taken on the manager's job before,” said Stringer. “There's no right or wrong way to go about it or get into the job. I came through from being involved with the youth team and had to learn as I went because it was different. You'll make mistakes but you have to do what you feel is right.

“I think the goodwill for him was there to see from everybody when he took over. Bryan clearly had the club at heart and that in itself got people behind him at the start. Obviously if he didn't have that or the results had not quite gone in his favour then it could have easily turned.”

Stringer is not surprised Gunn decided to take the managerial plunge.

“You can never really tell,” he said. “I'm sure when I was playing if you'd asked the managers I played under whether I would have gone into management they wouldn't have been able to say. You could tell Bryan had a fair knowledge of the game. I knew he had got his goalkeeping badges when he finished so clearly there was a part of him that considered the coaching side of the game - even though he actually ended up more on the marketing side at the club.”

Stringer is backing Gunn to complete his fire fighting mission.

“They've been in good form so it's a shame the international break came along when it did because that has stopped the momentum,” he said. “I guess it's the same for every club so it's a matter of picking up where we left off. I think the job he has done speaks for itself and to get a nomination of this nature shows how well he has done. He has come in, made some changes to the squad, and obviously has the confidence of the lads. Not only the ones who were already here but the ones he brought in, who seem to have knitted in quite well. Of course it's then down to the players to perform and they must take a lot of credit as well.”