Onel Hernandez's return from injury got Norwich City fans off their feet in Saturday's 0-0 draw with AFC Bournemouth at Vitality Stadium.
Following a spell on the sidelines with a knee injury, Hernandez made a cameo appearance for the Canaries late on in the game, replacing Todd Cantwell with nine minutes remaining.
His energy and pace immediately gave the City supporters something to get behind in the away end, as they cheered the team onto a first clean sheet and away point of the season.
Speaking to canaries.co.uk after the match, Hernandez said he was delighted to be back on the pitch.
“It’s incredible to be back," he said. "I’ve missed it so much because being injured is not a nice feeling. You see the team in the last few weeks and it has been tough for us because we’ve had so many injuries. I’m very happy and proud to be back to help my team with whatever I can do, so I’m very happy.
“I was thinking that it was a tough situation to come into as we were holding onto a point. That motivated me because I wanted to come in and help my teammates to maybe win the game. The coach told me to fight because we wanted the point or to win, to create something special. I tried my best and it was good from the team that we took one point from Bournemouth.”
Commenting on the support he and the rest of the team received from the travelling City faithful, Hernandez was impressed by the distance they had covered to get from Norfolk to the south coast.
“The fans are the heart of the club and they always travel so far," he added. "From Norwich to Bournemouth probably took some of them five, six or even seven hours, so that’s incredible. For that, we have to be thankful. I love the support from the fans and I hope that we gave them something back, because it wasn’t so good in the last few weeks. We look forward to the next game at home to win the three points.”
That next game is of course against Manchester United at Carrow Road this Sunday, and Onel says that, with the backing of the fans at home, there's no reason for City to be fearful of the opposition.
“We have to work hard in the week and prepare because Manchester United is a big club, but we have a good team and a lot of the injured players are back, so we don’t need to be scared," he said. "We play at home, back in our living room, so we have to show them what we can do.”
