IT WAS great to see Norwich City Academy product Jamar Loza come in and score his first senior goal at a crucial time in Tuesday’s match at Huddersfield Town.

He has been in and around the first-team for a little while now. He’s had to be patient; he’s been out on loan and been back in the Under-21s too.

Jamar has an ability to finish off both feet, and he has a work-rate and energy to press. He has the cleverness of movement to create space in behind, to come short and to face defenders up in one-v-one situations. On top of that, he’s a natural goalscorer.

It was no surprise for us to see him do it at first-team level. Jamar will definitely have a career as a professional footballer, and what we need to ensure now is that he is able to play at the highest level for Norwich City. That’s the challenge for him now and we have to keep pushing him.

Jamar played and scored in the Under-21s’ 2-0 win over Southampton recently, a showing that was probably our strongest of the season.

We were up against a very good team who had deservedly beaten us already twice this season, but I thought we were dominant from beginning to end. The boys deserve every credit on the back of that.

With the Tottenham game on Monday, it was opposite. They were the better team and dominated possession, and we weren’t able to press at any great height up the pitch. Even though we were able to win the game, I think there are areas where we can improve in terms of the performance.

We probably need two more wins to guarantee a spot in this league next season. We’ve got to play a lot the teams around us: Fulham twice, Sunderland at home and we’ve got to go to West Ham. Those are the crucial games but we have control of our own destiny because form has been fantastic over the last eight games.

Our Under-18s are going through an equally promising period, and they started their Premier League playoff campaign with a fine 2-1 win at Arsenal last Saturday.

It was great to see the boys playing with so much confidence – they look like they’re really enjoying their football now. It was also very encouraging to see six Under-16s start the game and two Under-15s finish it. It’s very positive all round.

Glenn Middleton came on to score in that game after netting a hat-trick on another pitch for the Under-16s! We were trying to radio over to get him over to the Under-18s a little bit earlier than he was able to come over, but he still had time to make an impact.

His form for both club and country – he’s played up a year for Scotland as well – has been very strong and he deserves the opportunity.

Looking ahead, we’ve now offered and had accepted ten scholarships, so I think we’ll in a place to announce those shortly after Easter.

Best regards,

Gregg

GREGG BROUGHTON'S ACADEMY BLOG - #7

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