Philippe Clement was pleased with the response from his side as Norwich City came from behind to beat Cardiff City 2-1 and book their place in the third round of the Carabao Cup.
Mathias Kvistgaarden opened the scoring before Ante Crnac marked his return to action after 10 months out with a late winner, with Clement delighted for the forward after his long road back from injury.
Following the game, head coach Philippe Clement said: “For sure. Everybody was disappointed about the Millwall game.
“We played a poor first half for sure on the ball and also in the duels. In the second-half we were better, but then you get the momentum against you and you get a second goal from a set piece, then a red card and you lose the game.
“But I didn't have any doubt that there would be a good reaction from the squad. It's an honest squad. We can be honest with them when things are not good, and I'm really clear about it. Then I work to make things better again, and that's what they showed today.”
Crnac marked his return from a 10-month absence by scoring the winning goal.
“It was really special for him,” Clement said. “I congratulated him afterwards, not only for the goal but for 10 months of really hard work, staying positive and fighting back.
“It's really nice that in his first minutes he can get a reward in that way, to score a very important goal for the club and qualify in the cup like this.
“It will give him a lot of confidence for the future because he's been fighting with his body for 10 months. To get this reward and to see that your body is fine at this stage is really important for him.”
The significance of Crnac’s goal was clear as the entire Norwich bench celebrated with the Croatian.
“We talked about that a lot,” Clement added. “We're one family, so everybody lives with each other in the good and the bad moments.
“Everybody is also living with Ali now. You saw that with Mo taking his numbers on. The dressing room is really close, also together with the staff, with everybody, and that's really important to have that for the future and the months to come.”
Clement felt City had the better of the opportunities despite Cardiff enjoying spells of possession as they looked to get back into the tie.
“They were pushing to get back and they are really good on the ball,” he said. “But we had the best chances also. We should have scored before the goal of Ante already in the first half.
“The clear-cut chances were for us today. We didn't concede much. OK, you get a goal against, and we should defend that better, but I don't remember one real save of Grimmi.
“There was possession, yes, there were shots, there were crosses, but we defended that really well.”
The head coach admitted there were still areas to improve, particularly in ensuring the game was managed better in the closing stages.
“First, by scoring more,” he said. “Secondly, also at the end of the game, keeping the ball better.
“But you saw several tired bodies, players who didn't play much 90 minutes until now.”
Clement made five substitutions during the game as he balanced the need to progress in the competition with the importance of building up minutes across his squad.
Bruno Alves made his competitive debut, while Darlin Yongwa was also handed minutes despite only recently joining the group.
“I made these choices before the game to start with Bruno, for example, to give him the chance also to play at this level,” Clement said.
“He never played before here, first-team competition game, so it's a really big step up for him, but it was really positive.
“He didn't last 90 minutes, which we expected. Normally you don't have to change your centre-half during a game.
“With Darlin the same, he didn't have a pre-season, so he's just three or four weeks in the building now training with us. Sixty minutes was the maximum for him, also to have him ready for Saturday.”
Clement also highlighted the value of managing the minutes of the players who were not required to play the full game.
“Taking Oscar out also creates freshness for Saturday,” he added. “Not playing with Kenny, not playing with Mo, not playing with Papa, all those things.
“It's positive that more guys got 90 minutes today, but at the end some were struggling with that.”
The head coach was pleased that the squad had taken another step forward in terms of fitness and preparation.
“Yes, that's the step forward again,” he said. “We're still in a kind of pre-season with a lot of players.
“It's good that you can do those things and you qualify because that's the main thing.
“And all respect to Cardiff. They've been starting the season really well. They have two points in the league, but they deserve more if I saw the games.
“To come here and to win and to have the best chances, that's a strong performance of the squad.”