Two goals from Glenn Middleton earned the Canaries their first victory of the 2017-18 Premier League 2 Division 2 campaign. City, however, ended the match with nine men after an incident involving both sets of players saw Remi Matthews and Tristan Abrahams sent off.

Speaking afterwards, Gill said: “The boys definitely deserved the win. We worked long and hard this week about being more streetwise and more resilient when under pressure. The boys stuck together and played some really good stuff.

“There were spells in the game where I was really pleased with how we were doing in possession. Probably the most pleasing thing is the way we reacted in transition and out of possession.

“The key message before the game was about being together. It may have been taken a little too literally after the coming together of the players!

“There was a real togetherness there tonight and I’m really pleased for the boys because it’s been a difficult start to the season and they’ve reacted well to it.”

Gill was particularly delighted with his team’s reaction following their opening two league defeats.

“I asked the boys to start the game how they finished the Middlesbrough game,” he added. “I wanted us to get out of the blocks quickly because we were at home.

“It was all about us taking our game to them. Scoring early gives you that boost and there was some really good football following that.”

Matt Gill: We deserved to win

More First-team

#NCFC

Principal Partners

Primary Partners