‘STEELY’ CANARIES DIG IN FOR WIN
DANIEL Farke was pleased to see his Norwich City side show “steel and togetherness” in their victory against Rotherham United.
Goals either side of the break from Kenny McLean and Ben Godfrey made it six wins on the spin as Norwich stayed top and took another step towards the top-flight after Sheffield United’s win over Leeds United.
McLean’s first-half hooked effort from Teemu Pukki’s chip put Norwich in front.
Rotherham gave the Canaries a scare when they levelled through in-form midfielder Semi Ajayi’s fifth in six games, but their joy was short-lived with Godfrey heading in the winner from McLean’s corner only five minutes later.
Farke hailed his side for winning ugly, but played down suggestions they are homing in on promotion after going four points clear of third.
He said: “Tough games will still come and in the Championship the momentum can change quickly.
“Everyone was highly motivated. This win is massive. I am a pretty happy man. It was a team performance.
“We are handling spicy games and when we are in the spotlight. We have overachieved in the eyes of so many people so far. It’s a good position to be in.
“It is (Rotherham) a really tough place and it’s difficult to beat them. They were willing to dig in and it was a massive performance. We had to show steel and togetherness. We have had more entertaining games of football, but it was important to win some battles.
“It was important to protect our gap to West Brom and Middlesbrough. It’s not already done, but we have a big chance in the fight for automatic promotion.
“We hope the players come back from the international break without any injuries and we will go again.”
The Millers remain in the drop zone following the loss, but battled until the final whistle with manager Paul Warne feeling they have enough to stay up. He said: “The lads were excellent. If Norwich have their best day and we have our best day, we’re always going to struggle because they are a formidable side.
“With eight games to go, if we can keep that level of performance up, we can have a great end to the season.
“Going a goal down before half time, when we played well, was a bit of a hammer blow.
“It was disappointing to concede a set-piece. We should mark better than that, it’s inexcusable. Overall the lads were virtually blemish free.”
Injuries, suspensions and Ryan Williams’ absence due to the pregnancy of his partner left Rotherham with only six substitutes.
Warne refused to complain. He added: “I like adversity. We embrace it. We couldn’t fill our bench, but you can only play 14 at any one time.
“There are no complaints. There were some really good performances. We are good entertainment, it’s just a pity we didn’t get one back at the end.”