Norwich City Under-23s coach Alan Neilson spoke about how his team’s style lends itself to entertaining, eventful matches following Friday’s 5-2 win against Reading Under-23s.
“We’ve spoken about intensity and that was our main word before the game,” he said. “We know we’ve got a team that can score goals.
“We’re on the front foot and create chances, so we just had to make sure we were solid at the back. We could have done a bit better but they kept on working, went 3-2 up and were still trying to win the ball and get it back as soon as they can.
“It’s great to score goals but we’ve got to be more solid as a team. In the last two games, we’ve scored ten goals and conceded two, so you might say we are the entertainers but I prefer to be more solid. The way we play, we will be open and it will be an end-to-end game sometimes.”
Dickson-Peters was heavily involved in the win, scoring a hat-trick to take his total of Premier League 2 Division Two goals to 12 so far this season.
“It’s been a great day for Tom,” Neilson said. “He scored a hat-trick, but all of them have got to keep on working and have the desire to improve every single day. They can only stop working once they’ve played 200 league games.
“That’s when you can relax and take your foot off the accelerator, but you’ve got to keep improving because there’s always someone behind you.
“We said at half-time, because there was a chance in the first-half when we broke with Flynn Clarke down the right hand side and Tom went for the ball on the edge of the box, stats show that goals are scored in the hot zone.
“In the second half, where did he score them? In the hot zone. You’ve got to get in there and make the runs. It’s the 8s and 11s who should be on the edge of the box.”