Head coach Daniel Farke said it is important not to get too carried away with Norwich City’s 6-0 Carabao Cup victory over AFC Bournemouth.
The Canaries put in a scintillating display which saw new signings Christos Tzolis and Josh Sargent both net braces, alongside goals from Kenny McLean and Lukas Rupp. Farke made 11 changes for the match, in order to give players who had played the opening two Premier League games a rest as well as minutes to others who had yet to start for the Canaries this season.
Asked if the victory gave him a few selection headaches ahead of Saturday’s home match with Leicester City, the boss said: “It is always good when you perform and it is not that important the name of the opponent.
“It is important that you deliver a good performance, but we also have to be a bit careful. This was a game on Championship level, top Championship level, and it proves that if we played there then we would probably romp the league again.
“It is definitely good, but the Premier League is a different animal and I have to make sure that I don’t throw some lads too early into the cold water, but these lads have proved that they have potential and, of course, with each and every top performance and each and every day that they are with us, and work with us, they are edging closer.
“If, of course, you perform well then you extend your chances to be involved in the big time but again we must not forget that it is Championship level and also Bournemouth had a few changes today and some of their best players were also not involved. It was perhaps the same a bit for us. We had many changes and then perhaps it is not that easy to play in a full rhythm but nevertheless it was a really good performance and full compliments to them.”
For the new faces that played in the game; Josh Sargent, Christos Tzolis and left-back Brandon Williams it was an impressive first start in Norwich City colours. And after the match Farke took time to praise sporting director Stuart Webber for his excellent recruitment of players in the summer and with a few days left of the transfer window he added that it was important to get the next week right in terms of the people the club bring in.
“There are definitely some encouraging signs,” he said. “I also want to use this day to give Stuart Webber many, many compliments because I label all our new signings as spot on.
“I think we have brought fantastic characters in and fantastic football players. It is still not a guarantee that we will be unbelievably successful and win the Premier League title, but I think if we use the last days of business in a proper way for us then we will give ourselves a chance to surprise everyone and earn the right to stay on the big stage.
“This is at least our claim to fight for and if the supporters back us like they do today and create such an atmosphere. Even in the difficult moments in the first half, they (the supporters) were there and they were fighting and together we ground out a top performance and a top result. If we can go further on in this manner, then we definitely have a chance.”