ALEX Neil was delighted with how his players carried out the gameplan to secure an excellent 1-1 draw with Liverpool at Anfield.

Russell Martin's second half strike - coming just a few hours after he attended the birth of his son back in Norfolk - earned his team a highly creditable point against last season's sixth-place finishers following Danny Ings' opener.

The result lifts Neil's team up to 11th place in the Barclays Premier League table - and once again he was full of plaudits for his players after the final whistle.

"I thought we worked really hard. I thought we did everything we spoke about before the match," he told Norwich City TV.

"The most pleasing thing for me was how attacking we were in the game at times. We posed a real threat going forward - our counter-attacking play with that pace we've got in the team worked really, really well today.

"When Liverpool had the ball we looked relatively solid, and we did need to rely on big John (Ruddy) to pull off some magnificent saves for us.

"We could have nicked it. Matt Jarvis had a great chance and their 'keeper pulled off a great save.

"All in all, I thought the boys did fantastically well. As I said to them, I believed we could come here and do something, but the biggest thing is they have to believe it. We're getting to that stage now where we believe that we're a good team.”

Martin's story dominated the discussion post-match at Anfield, with the Scotland international capping a remarkable 24 hours by finishing coolly for his third goal of the campaign.

The defender left the team's hotel base in Liverpool late on Saturday night to be by his wife's side before returning after the birth on Sunday morning to take his place in the starting eleven.

"He's had a great 24 hours. It doesn't get any better really. He had to leave the hotel last night, he has his kid delivered and we're pleased that his wife and the baby are really well at the moment," his manager added.

"I spoke to Russell and left it in his hands really. He's the captain of the club, and I asked him if he was ready to play. If he knew that he wasn't 100 per cent ready to contribute, he wouldn't have put himself forward.

"He travelled back up today and put a real captain's performance in and gets an equalising goal at Anfield. As far as he's concerned, it won't get much better than that."

ALEX NEIL: THE BOYS DID FANTASTICALLY WELL

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