The Canaries' First Division survival looked fairly secure as they went into today's clash with Tranmere in 15th place.

But they await the visit of Burnley on Monday with some trepidation as Norwich are just five points off the relegation zone.

"It was a horrible experience when I was relegated with Sheffield Wednesday in the 1989-90 season," said Worthington.

"You feel you have let yourself down, your family down, and the supporters from the club down," he said.

Worthington set his side a 50-point survival target at the beginning of the season but admits that may not now be enough.

"If teams keep winning below you, that 50 points might move to 52. There's every chance of that happening but what I've stressed to the players is that we can't look at other teams because at the end of the day they're not digging a hole for us, we're digging a hole for ourselves and we've got to stop that very quickly.

"We are now on 47 points and need to get a few more," he said. "But we have five games to get them. The quality is there but the hard work has got to continue."

Darren Kenton's late leveller against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane on Tuesday night gave the Canaries a vital point after Iwan Roberts had put through his own goal.

With Burnley still in with a shout of the play-offs Worthington knows they will be well fired up as they attempt to do the double over the Canaries. Former Blackpool boss Worthington is anticipating a very tough encounter.

He said: "The players know what they are going into. We know what we need to do, it's a case of doing it.

"Fortune favours the brave. So we need brave players, we need to be positive in our attitude and go and grab the game by the scruff of the neck, make sure that we do the job ourselves as opposed to looking over our shoulders to see what others are doing."

"Although we are facing Burnley at home, it certainly will not be an easy game.

"Stan Ternent's team are very solid and they're hard to beat. But we are at home and we've got to go and be positive, go and be brave, go and play and go and get a win."

The Canaries were humbled 2-0 at Turf Moor back in November thanks to goals from Andy Payton and Steve Davis - a result that pushed the Clarets into fourth spot.

Payton even had the luxury of missing a penalty that day in a game which also saw Ian Moore make his debut from the substitute's bench following his £1m move from Tranmere.

Worthington's major selection headache going into Monday's clash - today's injuries permitting - is who to play in goal.

Andy Marshall has pleaded with Worthington to give him a run in the team before the likely end of his Norwich career this summer. The former England Under-21 goalkeeper, who turned 26 today, has missed the last two games with a thigh strain.

Worthington though is keen to give Robert Green a chance in case, as expected, Marshall leaves Carrow Road and the 21-year-old will be called upon to succeed him.

Marshall, who has played 217 games for Norwich, said: "I know that the manager wants to give Robert a run in the team. I understand that totally, if I was manager I would do exactly the same. Robert's done nothing wrong, but I really want to be playing before the end of the season."

Although he is widely expected to leave on a Bosman free transfer, Marshall said: "Who knows what's going to happen in the summer?"

It would appear though that the only chance of him staying with The Canaries would be if there are no offers from a Premiership club or a side more likely to mount a Division One promotion challenge next term.