For now, all eyes are on this Saturday's home clash with Colchester United.
And given that there is little or no guarantee that even 52 points will be enough for safety this season, so all eyes will be on Bristol City (a) the following weekend and Burnley (h) the week after.
But in amongst all such fun and games, at some stage City boss Glenn Roeder will have to start putting one or two of his summer plans in place – filling in the gaping holes in his armoury that will be left by Dion Dublin's retirement and could – potentially – be left by Darren Huckerby, Gary Doherty and Mark Fotheringham seeking pastures new as all three senior players come to the end of their current Carrow Road deals.
And then there's the small matter of the five loan players currently under the manager's command. They, too, will return to sender this summer once the dust finally settles.
Already Roeder has dropped big hints that another crop of Premiership loans can be expected in Norfolk next season; he repeated that suggestion last night when he met the Norwich City Independent Supporters Association at Carrow Road.
Before then, he also hinted that he could be sorely tempted to see whether he can't get some of his current loan crop out again on a second tour of duty – if Ched Evans finds a queue of strikers awaiting his return to Eastlands; if Wayne Bridge and Ashley Cole continue to block Ryan Bertrand's path to Premiership and Champions League football at Chelsea; if Steve Coppell and Royals director of football Nicky Hammond decide that Alex Pearce's football education could do with one last top-up before he becomes a Reading regular.
Speaking ahead of last weekend's trip to Sheffield United and yesterday's return to the Thamas Valley of his teenage loan pal James Henry, Pearce's thoughts had yet to turn to the summer. There was still a big job to do in Norfolk.
But the 19-year-old was still old enough and smart enough to know that, in football, you never say never. Keep every door slightly ajar. Just in case.
“Hopefully, I can push forward with Reading next season, but if not then who knows what could happen?” said the Scottish Under-19 international.
“I'm enjoying my time here, but predominantly I do want to play for Reading in the long term. And as I've said before, I'm not really thinking about next season, but would I contemplate a loan? If I'm not in the Reading team, I'll contemplate a loan.”
Roeder has long made it clear that he is a big fan of the centre-half – on and off the pitch, his character 'fits' with Roeder's way of thinking. By the same token, it also 'fits' with Coppell's own way of thinking. Hence his insistence that Pearce will be going nowhere on a permanent basis.
Long-term, his future will be in the blue-and-white hoops; whether Roeder can twist enough arms to get Pearce out again over the medium-term is something to ponder over the summer.
Speaking before his loan pal Henry disappeared, Pearce certainly gave every impression of fitting in very easily to Colney life. His performances haven't been without the odd blemish, but there is clearly a player and a character there for someone to work with.
“I settled in straight away as soon as I came down here; the lads settled me in straight away and I felt really at home – as if I was at Reading, really,” said Pearce, who found Jason Shackell taking the managerial heat on Saturday as the one-time City skipper found himself, not the teenager, making way for Gary Doherty's return in amidst that 2-0 defeat at Sheffield United.
It has all, says Pearce, been a big step up from an early autumn in the leafy surroundings of Dean Court where he and Henry went through the lower league mill at Bournemouth.
“It is a step up, obviously. I was in League One with Bournemouth and with Northampton before that – this is a definite step up. The tempo is quicker; the players are a better quality – so, yes, it is a step up,” said Pearce. He has now witnessed both Watford and Stoke at first hand. Another little tick in his educational box.
“It's a different type of game – they put it in your box at every given opportunity. From throw-ins, corners – everything. It all comes into the box. You're not going to face that every week, but you've got to stand up to tests like that,” he said. “And as a centre-half you've got to be able to deal with certain things and one of them is dealing with the physical battle. And, yes, I enjoy it.”
The fact that Roeder himself was a centre-half of some distinction helps the teenager's learning curve. “He's been giving me some tips on certain things and as he was a centre-half, it can only help me in the long run.”
In the short run, Pearce's mental strength will come under the spotlight this Saturday as he and his team-mates come face-to-face with the kind of 'Don't you dare lose…' pressure that will grip Carrow Road come the Us visit.
Last night and Roeder was offering Dublin's impending retirement as another big reason why the Canaries need to put this season out of its many miseries – don't let the Big Man bow out on a such a shattering low was his plea to a lengthy players meeting.
“I said to them: 'Look at him sitting there. He is 38 years old, he's had a fantastic career, his career is over in six weeks time,” said Roeder, quoted in this morning's Eastern Daily Press.
“We are not as a group of players and a staff going to let him leave the game… I don't want to even talk about it,” said Roeder. “You know where I am coming from – we are not going to let that happen to Dion.”
Three, huge points against Colchester this weekend and that prospect starts to fade. But only starts. It may yet need 55 points before anyone can truly to start to breathe easy.
“It is so important that we get this job done,” the City boss told NCISA at their latest Q&A at Carrow Road.
“We had a meeting for about an hour today in the dressing room and I said: 'Lads, six weeks ago it was like we picked up great big hand of sand up from the beach – and you are starting to let the sand slip through your fingers and we have to close our fingers again bloody quick here.
“Surely to God after what we have come through together we are not going to do anything daft now – which we are not.”
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