Finn win has brought back Pukki’s party

TEEMU PUKKI has claimed leading Finland to their first major finals has boosted his goalscoring back in the Premier League.

The Norwich striker started the season in red-hot form bagging six in his first five top-flight games before going eight matches without finding the net.

But Pukki became a national hero when his double against Liechtenstein last month sealed his nation’s appearance at Euro 2020 – the first time the country, ranked 58th in the world, have reached a summer tournament.

Pukki (right) has returned to score in Norwich’s last two games as Daniel Farke’s side battle the drop.

He said: “Every striker has these periods where you don’t score. You just need to get back out of it.

“What I did with the national team helps me, it gives me confidence that I can do it at this level again.

“I’m always happy when I score. Especially now, at a harder period with these games. It gives me confidence for the next game to keep scoring.”

Pukki netted 36 times last season, including a strike against Sheffield United at Carrow Road in January.

The Blades took four points off the title-winning Canaries in the Championship last season and the Finn is predicting another tight battle against the Yorkshire club.

“They play the same people as last year and they’ve been doing really well,” Pukki said.

“I remember the first game was hard away. One of the worst games I’ve played here.

“But the second game I scored. A tight match, 2-2. They are a good team so we need to be ready.”

And Norwich need to start better than against Southampton in midweek when they conceded two first-half goals from set-pieces.

Pukki said: “That’s something that’s been a problem, that we have been conceding first.

“We need to be awake from the first moment.

“Once you get down it’s hard to get back in at this level. And we need to do better with set-pieces.”