Norwich City under-23s coach Alan Neilson told his players to be on the front foot more following a poor first half showing in their play-off semi-final with Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The Canaries trailed the match in Division Two of the Premier League 2, 1-0 at half-time after Hugo Bueno had curled home an opener after 38 minutes. However, in the second half Neilson’s team were much better and levelled through substitute Tyrese Omotoye.
They lost the match on penalties in the end, but Neilson was pleased with the improvement he saw following a disappointed first 45 minutes.
“It was tough to take,” he said. “First half we didn’t deserve it. Second half I thought we did deserve it. First half we were not getting tight enough to them, we were letting them play, we were not strong enough in the tackle and we let them dominate. Second half we asked for a response, and they came up with one. We pinned them back and for 90 minutes it was a fair game. Extra-time players are always going to get tired, with cramp, but there were not too many chances created. They probably created one or two of the better ones, but we stayed in the game and penalties, as we know, is a lucky dip really.”
“The message (at half-time) was to be on the front foot really,” added Alan. “And to also win your tackles and get tight to them. We said: ‘If there is a fifty-fifty make sure we come out with the ball’. We did that and we pushed them back a little bit and we created a few chances and Tyrese took his goal well.
“We talk about the best defence and we say when the ball comes out make sure we are the first ones to win the ball. We did and that and we kept the ball in their half and in their final third and eventually the ball broke for us. I think, overall, we know that we could have shown a bit more quality with the final ball or the final run, but we were still there playing in their half which is what we wanted them to do."
First team head coach Dean Smith, his assistant Craig Shakespeare and director of football Stuart Webber were in the stands at Molineux to watch the game.
Asked if this gave the players extra motivation going into the match, Alan said: “I think with these players; they drive themselves. It doesn’t matter who is in the stands. We have all said from the start of the year, it is about standards.
“It doesn’t matter where you are, whether you are in the gym or out training, you have your standards. If you have got good standards off the pitch, then you will have good standards on the pitch and that is what we do. We keep driving standards all the time. It doesn’t matter who is looking, you should be pushing yourself to get better every single day.
“It has been a great season. We have had more highs than lows and we are here to produce players for the first team. So, this season, Jon (Rowe) has gone across, Tony (Springett) has made his debut and as I always say I am here to keep on pushing them. The academy staff are there to push the players and to try and get them into the first team.”