Norwich City Under-23s goalkeeper Archie Mair has said the Academy side are capable of getting a good result at home to Stoke City Under-23s on Friday night, despite the league table pitting the visitors as favourites.
Norwich are currently eighth in the second division of Premier League 2, having lost their last game 3-2 away to Newcastle United Under-23s on Monday night. Meanwhile, Stoke beat Aston Villa Under-23s 2-0 and are third in the league.
Ahead of another challenging fixture, here’s what Mair had to say in his pre-match interview with canaries.co.uk.
canaries.co.uk: Firstly, how do you think we got on in the Newcastle game?
AM: It definitely wasn’t our best game in the first half. I don’t think we were really on it. In the second half, it picked up and the boys started working harder. I think we dug in a bit more, but obviously we were disappointed not to get the win. The next game’s a big one because we need to pick ourselves up and kick on to improve.
canaries.co.uk: The first Newcastle goal was an impressive effort from outside the area, as was Dan Adshead’s. Do you think we could have been more willing to regularly have a go from distance?
AM: Yeah, there are a lot of quality players in the league and if they do get the chance to shoot from outside the box then they’ll punish you. Dan has got the talent to be able to pull that off and find the bottom corner like he did, so I think you’re exactly right.
canaries.co.uk: As you said, we weren’t at our best in the first half, but we did show some resilience and spirit to comeback and bring the score to 2-2.
AM: I think we weren’t good at all in the first half, but at the end of it we managed to salvage a goal. That helped us going into the second half. We showed a bit of resilience and got ourselves back in the game. The game was there to be won but unfortunately, we conceded again and couldn’t score.
We ended up losing but I think we showed we’ve got a bit of resilience, but it’s about finding consistency and doing it from the off. When we do it right and play the way the coaches ask us, we’re unplayable at times.
canaries.co.uk: Looking ahead to Stoke, they’ve won three of their first five games. It should be a tough test.
AM: We all know how challenging it will be. They’re sitting high in the table and are obviously a good side. They’re just coming off the back of a 2-0 win so they’ll be confident that they’re a good side and can try to get a win over us, but we’re confident ourselves and know that if we play how we can, we should be able to win the game and put in a performance.