David Wagner praises Norwich’s front-foot approach despite frustrating draw

Posted Tuesday, April 11, 2023 by PA

Norwich head coach David Wagner was full of praise for his side despite seeing them held to a frustrating goalless draw by relegation-threatened Rotherham at Carrow Road.

It was a third straight home game without a goal for the Canaries, who dropped to eighth in the Championship table as a result, but they are still just one point adrift of the play-off positions.

“It is important for me to judge the performance as well as the result,” he said. “Obviously this was a frustrating result but I was delighted with the way we played. If we had taken one of our early chances I think it would have been a very different game.

“For the first 20-25 minutes I really don’t think we could have played much better. We created a lot of good chances throughout the game but for a number of reasons – good defending, not staying calm and rushing it – we did not take them.

“We have had two good performances in a row now (after Friday’s 2-0 win at Blackburn) and we need to keep our heads and be ready for the next challenge.”

City must conduct their promotion bid without key defenders Grant Hanley and Ben Gibson who both picked up injuries at Ewood Park.

“Grant has ruptured his Achilles tendon and is having an operation this week. He will be out for months,” revealed Wagner. “Ben’s hamstring injury will keep him out for the rest of the regular season but if we make the play-offs he could be available. It’s a big blow, especially as we have just lost Kenny McLean too, but it gives other players a chance to show what they can do.”

Norwich were on the front foot from the word go at Carrow Road, with Josh Vickers making two excellent stops in the first five minutes to thwart first Sam McCallum and then Josh Sargent.

Teemu Pukki then wasted a decent opportunity when dwelling on the ball for too long after being put clear while after the break two dramatic goalline clearances kept the home side out.

Tyler Blackett was in the right place at the right time to hook Onel Hernandez’s deflected shot away from danger, while in injury time Wes Harding did likewise to keep out a prod at goal from substitute Christos Tzolis after Vickers had missed a corner.

Rotherham barely threatened all afternoon but defended solidly to come away with a hard-earned point in their battle against the drop.

“It has been a good Easter for us, there’s no doubt about that,” said Millers boss Matt Taylor. “If you had told me before that we would take four points out of six against West Brom and Norwich I would certainly have taken that.

“Both of those clubs have a lot of good players and we can’t match them in that department but we can match them in others and that’s what you saw again today.

“We had to defend well and make some last-ditch tackles and blocks but you expect that against a team like Norwich. We dealt with their pressure very well even though we didn’t threaten much going forward.

“It’s good to have 45 points with six games to go but now it’s all about what comes next. We have got to build on these two results, even though the injuries are making it tough for us.”

Rotherham lost in-form keeper Viktor Johansson in training in the lead-up to the game, and although stand-in Vickers turned in a fine display at Carrow Road, Taylor admitted it was a big blow for his team.

“Viktor has been outstanding since I have been here, our player of the season by a country mile, so to lose him is a real setback. He injured his shoulder in training and was in a sling today so it doesn’t look good. But Josh came in and was excellent – he was number one here before my time and showed why with his performance.”