Teemu Pukki has won the fan-voted War Paint for Men Player of the Month award for November.
Pukki scored three goals as Norwich City were unbeaten in November, including a penalty against Brentford, header against Southampton and volley against Newcastle United.
Those strikes took Pukki’s tally for the season to five goals in 14 games before the end of November.
“First of all, thank-you to the fans who voted for me,” he told canaries.co.uk. “It’s a big thing to win and it was a good month for the whole team. We got many points and the game is looking better as well, so I’m really happy about that and hope we can keep going a similar way in December.
“[The volley against Newcastle] is probably the nicest goal I’ve scored. It was a tough game, even though we were one player up for most of the game. We didn’t create so many chances, but I was really happy that it went in. It was a nice goal and probably the nicest one I’ve scored, so I’m really happy about that goal.
“The header [against Southampton] isn’t something I do so often, so I was happy to score a header after a while. They were some important goals as well to get us the points, so I’m happy I could help the team. I don’t think they’ll let me take free-kicks yet!”
City grew as a team during November, taking eight points from 12 thanks to a run of improved performances.
“The players showed their skills more and I think it’s easier when the team is playing better,” Pukki said. “The old boys who have been here longer, we also stepped up and then it’s easier for the new guys to do the same. It’s looking good at the moment, but I think we still need to step up our game if we want to really compete at this level. In December, there are a lot of games and we want to get as many points as we can, so there’s room to improve our game still.”
The club parted ways with former head coach Daniel Farke following November’s 2-1 win at Brentford, and Pukki reflects on the period of time as the right moment for change to take place, Dean Smith appointed ahead of the rest of November’s games.
“We all loved to play under him,” he said. “It was a tough moment of course, but I think it was time for a change. The gaffer has come into this team and been brilliant. We’ve been improving our game and it’s been a good change. It’s always sad for a manager to be sacked, so I hope all the best for Daniel in the future, but it was a new start for us and it’s looking good. Like I said, there’s still work to do.
“We’ve been creating more chances under them, so I’ve been really happy about that. There were some games at the beginning of the season where we didn’t really create chances. As a striker, you need that and I think we’ve been improving game by game. The Newcastle game, if you play with one player more, you need to win it, so that was probably our worst game in November with the new manager, so there’s still stuff to improve.
“Wolves are often in the Europe positions in the league and we were the better team in that game and we should’ve got three points in that game as well, so it tells us we have the potential and if we play at our best level then we can really compete against the bigger teams, so I believe we have what it takes to win loads of points in December. There are many games this month and it’s a really hectic period but we need to be ready and prepared to fight for all the points.”
Pukki scored 11 goals in the Premier League two season ago and is on track to beat that number this time around, but the forward is solely focused on contributing to points for the team.
“I never put any targets before the season, but I’m happy I could help the team to get some points with my goals and I hope I can keep doing that,” he said. “If I pass that number, I’ll be really happy about it, but many games to go and I still need to be on my best level to score in this league. It’s never easy.”
2021/22 War Paint for Men Player of the Month winners:
August: Milot Rashica
September: Mathias Normann
October: Mathias Normann
November: Teemu Pukki