Daniel Farke urges dominant leaders Norwich to keep their focus

Posted Thursday, March 18, 2021 by PA

Norwich boss Daniel Farke has asked his players to remain focused after breaking a new club record with their ninth consecutive win.

Early goals from Teemu Pukki and Kieran Dowell proved enough to clinch a 2-0 triumph at Nottingham Forest, who were soundly outclassed and could only muster one shot on target in response.

The Canaries are now 10 points clear at the top of the Championship table.

Farke said: “When the games come thick and fast, you can forget about what you are doing, but we need to also experience the joy because nine wins on the trot is outstanding.

“Maybe, in a few years’ time, we can sit back with a glass of wine and look back on how we have written some history and done something really amazing. But now is not the time to be too proud of ourselves because we need to stay focussed.

“We still have some strong teams left to play and you never know what can happen with the coronavirus situation, but I thought we were fantastic in this game. We scored two quick goals against a well-organised Chris Hughton side who hadn’t conceded two goals in any of their previous 11 games.

“We also created an unbelievable amount of chances, had 22 shots on goal, made more than 700 passes and kept a clean sheet. We did that by working unbelievably hard in the second half and not making any mistakes, so I’m delighted.”

Farke also confirmed that Emiliano Buendia had missed the game to attend the birth of his child, but would return to the squad for Saturday’s home match with Blackburn.

Forest boss Hughton heaped particular praise on 22-goal Pukki and conceded that his team lacked the quality of their opponents, but also reasoned that has been the case for most Championship outfits this term.

“It’s not just us that are a long way off them,” he declared. “They have a way of playing that has been drilled into many of their players for the last three years.

“Their main players have also been fit all season and they have an outstanding centre forward who works as hard going back as he does going forward, but is always a threat.

“It was disappointing to concede the two early goals, but they are so good with their movement and creating space in central areas of the pitch that it’s difficult to know when and where to press them sometimes.

“We got closer to them in the second half, but they are a top, top team and they showed it. We have just got to make sure we take our second-half performance into our next game and not our first.”