FABIAN Wilnis knows losing is not an option at Norwich tomorrow.The Dutch defender, who is enjoying a purple patch of form, admits he will draw the curtains and stay indoors if the unthinkable happens.

FABIAN Wilnis knows losing is not an option at Norwich tomorrow.

The Dutch defender, who is enjoying a purple patch of form, admits he will draw the curtains and stay indoors if the unthinkable happens.

“It is a game to look forward to. The derby games are the first ones I look for when the fixtures come out. It is a special game for the players but even more so for the supporters. It is about prestige and pride. I know if the unthinkable happens and we lose I won't be able to show my face in town for a month. I will have to stay in.”

A bargain £200,000 signing from de Graafschap four years ago, Wilnis is one of the longer-serving players with enough experience of derbies with Norwich to know the depth of feeling for these games.

Although he tries to prepare as usual, he admits there are a extra few butterflies ahead of the Norwich game.

He said: “I keep my same routine but obviously because it is a special game you do tend to think about it a bit more than usual maybe. People have been asking me from more than a month ago for tickets for the Norwich game, everyone wants to be there. I have had 19 requests but we only get two or three tickets so I have had to disappoint a lot of people.”

As we chatted yesterday Wilnis was in some discomfort with a sore knee and was about to go in for treatment.

He explained: “I should be fine and hope to be better tomorrow. I should know better really but I bounced off Hermann. Normally if you see him coming you step away but this time we collided.”

If he were to be ruled out Wilnis would be a massive loss. He is enjoying a purple patch and is already a contender for player of the year, and is quick to point out the reason why.

He said: “Since the new manager came in the results have got better. He said he would give everyone a chance and he gave me mine and I grabbed it with both hands.

“Apart from the last two games I feel we have played well. We know we can get it back to the way we were.

“Of course we miss players like Hermann and Pablo but we have a good squad here who can put things right.

“We will soon get the confidence back. When we got in our groove and were full of confidence it was like we were going into games 1-0 up. Standing in the tunnel we would look at the opposition and think 'we are going to beat you'. It was not over-confidence, just a belief we could win and we need to get that feeling back.”

Wilnis admits the players are ignoring the off-field situation as best they can and getting on with their own jobs. He added: “I don't even think about it now. Of course we read about it in your paper every day but we just get on with the training and thinking about the game.”

But he also knows if they don't get a result across the border tomorrow they will hear about that for some time to come.