Alan Neilson praised the workrate of his front three players as Norwich City recorded a 2-2 draw away at Newcastle United on Friday night.
The under-23s coach was delighted with how his team played as they came back from a goal down, twice, to earn a point at Whitley Park.
“I was really happy with the performance,” said Alan. “I thought we dominated a lot of the game and created chances. I think the front three, and especially Jonny Rowe, looked really lively and caused problems the whole night for the Newcastle United back four.
“Jon (Rowe) is so sharp going forward, he is so lively, and he can go past people by jinking both ways.
“However, what was really pleasing was his work rate, working back as well. We say that to the front three, you are not just there to score goals. You are there to press from the front and to also run back when we need you to, and I thought they did that well today.”
Another plus point was the return to fitness for Rocky Bushiri. He replaced Jon Tomkinson in the centre of defence, after he was ruled out through injury himself.
“Jon had an operation last week,” explained Alan. “He will be out for a while, but hopefully not too long because he is a fit lad and he will work hard to be back as soon as he can. However, that was Rocky’s first game for about six months, so that is really pleasing to see how he played. He got a little bit of cramp after 65 minutes, so we couldn’t take the risk and we brought him off.”
Flynn Clarke got the winning goal for Norwich City from a free kick, while Liam Gibbs was also impressive in the centre of midfield. Alan added that both those players are coming back from injury as well and will be pleased to have got more minutes under their belts.
“Flynn (Clarke) has got quality, but Flynn at the minute has got to get fitter and fitter,” said Alan. “He has had a bit of a calf injury and then he was injured for a few months before we signed him as well. He just needs to get his fitness right so then he can show that quality that he has got more often.
“I spoke to Liam (Gibbs) after the game and he said, ‘I’m absolutely tired’ or words to that effect, but he played 45 minutes last week, to get him back into it, and then he has played 90 minutes today. Hopefully, his fitness will get better and better after his thigh strain.”