Norwich City midfielder Oliver Skipp scored the Canaries’ third and final goal in Tuesday’s 3-1 win away to Birmingham City.
Skipp charged forward on the counter-attack alongside Lukas Rupp, and the latter selflessly played the ball across to him to tap into an empty net in the fifth minute of stoppage time.
“When there’s a goal at stake, and I don’t get many, I saw Lukas and the ball was bouncing so I thought ‘he’s got a good chance of winning this’.
“It was brilliant from Lukas to have the awareness one-on-one just to lay the ball off. It shows the selflessness of him and made it simple for me so I can only thank him for that. It’s nice because I don’t get many so that’s one that I’ll cherish!
“I haven’t scored in senior football! It’s definitely one that I’ll remember, but more importantly three points and another step closer to what we want to achieve, so it’s not just about me.”
Asked about City’s ten point lead at the top of the Championship, Skipp said that he and his teammates aren’t paying attention to the league table at present.
“We can only concentrate on ourselves. We’ve done our job tonight and it’s over to the other teams to see what they do. There’s no point getting too bothered with other results, we just look at ourselves.
“As long as we keep producing what we’re producing, even if we’re not at our best like we weren’t tonight at periods, it shows what we’re about, so it’s a big three points tonight.
“I thought in the first half we weren’t at the level that we want to be at, especially playing out from the back. That wasn’t at the standard of other games. At half-time, everyone was relaxed. We were still in the game at 1-1 and we had chances.
“In the second half, we stepped up our level and showed what this group is about. You’re not always going to be at your best in the first half and I think the way we reacted as a team with people coming on and making impacts. As a whole team, the second half was much improved.
“It’s about staying calm but we knew we needed a big reaction. In the first half, there were too many crosses coming into our box and second balls - just as a team really - it felt, not flat, but we needed that five or ten percent extra to step up and we knew we were capable of that.”
Skipp was also full of praise for Teemu Pukki, who scored twice and missed a penalty in Tuesday’s win.
“Considering Teemu missed a penalty, it shows his character because he was making great runs in the first half and his finish for the first goal was brilliant.
“We always have faith that if we provide him with the service then he’ll get goals. It wasn’t just that, it was his work for the team.
“You see how many times he causes their centre-backs problems from balls which other strikers would let the centre-backs control.
“His goals were brilliant but I thought his all round play was as well.”
