You can’t replace James Maddison but Hernandez was brilliant, says Farke

DANIEL FARKE believes it is impossible to replace James Maddison but two-goal Onel Hernandez tried his best.

The German boss challenged his Cuban-born winger to find an extra gear after the Canaries lost their £25million talisman to Leicester.

And he certainly did that. Twice pegging back Garry Monk’s side, who were left with the blues after Hernandez’s second equaliser came in the fifth minute of added time.

Farke also waved goodbye to Josh Murphy who left for the greener pastures of the Premier League at Cardiff City. But Hernandez, signed last January, took both chances well – and could have easily kicked off his campaign with a hat-trick.

Farke (right) said: “Onel is a brilliant lad and he had a big impact towards the end of last season.

“We spoke to him during preseason. We told him he needed to add goals and assists.

“Two on the opening day showed that he took it in the right way and hopefully he can go on.

“But it is always difficult to replace an unbelievable and outstanding player like James Maddison.

“He scored 15 goals and had a lot of assists.

“We have also lost Josh Murphy who was our second-top goal-scorer.

“You can’t replace a player like James Maddison, not one-for-one. The group has to step up.

“Onel showed a lot of class. There were two brilliant finishes.”

In the end, a draw was a fair result – but there was a finale that Farke correctly described as “crazy” before referee Peter Bankes finally blew his whistle.

The only point of note during a tame first half was an outstanding save from home debutant Connal Trueman in the Blues goal from Canaries striker Jordan Rhodes.

But the game sprang to life when the home side’s most potent attacking threat, winger Jacques Maghoma, thumped home a shot at the second attempt off the underside of the crossbar after the visitors failed to clear a corner.

But Hernandez took advantage of tiring legs as he evaded two tackles before finding a way past Trueman to level six minutes from time.

He then missed by inches and that wasted opportunity appeared costly as Birmingham took advantage in the final minute.

A ball over the top fell perfectly for Viv Solomon-Otabor and the substitute kept his cool to fire Monk’s men back in front.

The drama was