Norwich City head coach Dean Smith said there was still work to do but he was pleased with certain elements of his side’s performance following this afternoon’s 2-2 draw with SSV Jahn Regensburg.
“It was a really good competitive game for us against a Bundesliga 2 side, who start their season next week. So, they’re a little bit ahead of us in terms of their fitness, but it was what we needed.
“The players have worked really hard this week and I wanted them to go into this game tired and stressed to see how they made decisions when they weren’t at their best. In that sense, it was a really good game for us.
“I thought we counter-pressed well, but our game with the ball, we never really got into enough rhythm until the last half an hour. It was very stop-start with a few fouls.
“We’re working on something in terms of our set piece routines and the principals we’re trying to get in. Our opponents probably got too many first contacts from corners against us, but that’s something to work on.”
City arrived at Grassau in Germany on Sunday and have spent the week at the ASV Grassau Sportspark as part of their pre-season training camp.
“It’s been a great week here - I get to see them 24/7 and they get to see me and when we’re all very tired, you get to know the characters of people really well. It’s a really good facility, with wonderful surroundings.
“Pre-season training camps are really important because we all know that football is a team game – we’ve been having some competitions this week, not only with the players but with the staff as well and I think we’re building up that togetherness. It feels like a really good camp and we're looking forward to the season now.”
“We worked really hard yesterday morning and then had an afternoon of white water rafting, building up stories that the lads can talk about during the season. Even on my boat, our goalkeeping coach, Ed Wootten, went overboard but we got him out very quickly. It was good fun and it’s been a really good week.”
Since the end of last season, City have seen the return of a number of loan players, as well as new face Isaac Hayden, on loan from Newcastle.
“It's also been important for the loan players. I’ve been really impressed with Danel, who’s been on loan at Huddersfield all season. He’s got a really good picture when the ball arrives, plays a one-two touch really well and has a really good delivery from set pieces.
“Onel has made his mark in training already, as well as Jordan (Hugill) and Sam (McCallum), who’ve adjusted really well to the pace of the squad.
“Isaac Hayden trained the first week with us but he got a little bit of swelling on the knee, so we were a bit concerned about that and we're just resting him at the moment.
"The international guys will have a little bit more work to do to catch up, but they’ve had a shorter break than the others.”
City play Kings Lynn next at The Walks on Tuesday, July 12, with four more pre-season fixtures to prepare for the 2022/23 Sky Bet Championship campaign.
“We’ve got games coming thick and fast and the quality is going up with the games but we’re looking forward to them and with the work that we’re doing, we will hopefully continue to see progress.
“We’ll start working on a lot of sharper stuff now and ramping up the minutes again for next week. We then have a real tough game away at Marseille, Cambridge and then two 11 v 11s the following week which will allow me to get 90 minutes into most of the group. We’ll be working hard with the fitness guys to make sure we balance that well to get ready for the first game of the season.