David Wagner urges Norwich to be more ruthless after draw with Preston

Posted Sunday, December 10, 2023 by PA

Norwich head coach David Wagner said his side needed to find a more ruthless edge after being held to a frustrating goalless draw by Preston at Carrow Road.

The Canaries were on the front foot for long periods against a side who had lost their three previous games but could find no way through a determined rearguard.

“The feeling in the dressing room right now is one of frustration because I don’t think anyone watching that game would have had any complaints if we had won it,” said Wagner.

“Defensively we were very good, keeping them away from our goal, but going forward we lacked a bit of creativity.

“Even when you dominate a match you don’t always create nine of 10 decent chances. Sometimes it is only two or three and that was the case and in those sort of games you just need to take one of them.

“Unfortunately we weren’t able to do that – we just need to be a bit more ruthless in front of goal and that is something we will be working on.

“We have now had two successive clean sheets at home and have won one and drawn one.

“We have another home game on Wednesday (against Sheffield Wednesday) and we need to clear our heads and look forward to that one. There are a lot of games coming up this month and we have to make sure we are ready for them.”

It was a match that Norwich dominated for long periods, although they came up against a side who defended stoutly throughout.

The closest the Canaries came to breaking the deadlock was in the second half when substitute Liam Gibbs wasted a great chance after being picked out in the box by Gabriel Sara while a goalbound header from Shane Duffy was blocked on the line by Alan Browne.

Preston were largely on the back foot, although Ben Whiteman hit the crossbar on a rare break and Jack Whatmough almost forced the ball home in a late scramble.

Preston boss Ryan Lowe was delighted to come away from Carrow Road with a hard-earned point.

“It was a solid, resolute performance and our application was spot on,” he said.

“This is a difficult place to come to and our attitude going into the game was to keep the back door shut and whatever happens at the other end we will take.

“First and foremost I thought we defended really well and when it was needed there were plenty of blocks, good saves and good headers to keep them out. We also had our moments at the other end.

“It is a fantastic point after a disappointing run of results and a lot of hard work has got us there against a good team who have been on a decent run.

“This is an important building block for us and now we need to build on it.

“We are still in a fantastic position and now we need to follow this up with more good results.”