Exeter captain Matt Taylor has tipped Grant Holt for bigger and better things after the City skipper’s brace earned the points at the weekend.
The Grecians put in a spirited showing but despite the home side’s quieter-than-normal performance, it didn’t stop the Canaries notching up their ninth home win in a row.
And it was mainly down to the finishing prowess of Mr Holt, after his first-half header and 82nd minute solo effort sealed the 3-1 success.
With a bit of Wes Hoolahan magic sprinkled on top for good measure, City now sit three points clear in second place and all set for a promotion push from League One.
And Taylor – who surprisingly played out the contest, despite falling ill on the pitch during the warm-up – believes Holt would grace a higher division.
“We knew where their dangers were but Grant Holt took his goals really well,” said Taylor afterwards, speaking to the Devon media.
“Their first one came from a quality cross and Holt will score goals like that all season. Norwich play in a certain way that suits him.
“He will probably play at a higher level so fair play to him. When you have got goals like that in your team, it helps massively and they had that.
“They have got quality centre forwards who are probably above this level and that’s why they are second in the league.”
The Exeter skipper didn’t, however, feel his team were outclassed by any means. When ex-Ipswich man Marcus Stewart made it 2-1 a minute before Holt’s clincher, the Grecians were right back in it.
And Taylor was adopting a positive stance, despite admitting that the Devon club didn’t stay on top for long enough.
“They are a good team with good attacking players but we created the most amount of chances we have created all season to be honest.
“But we knew what was coming and I don’t think we could have done anything to deal with it. We bounced back at the end of the first half and were the better team.
“It is a hard place to come and it is just disappointing that we didn’t stay in the game for long enough at the right times.
“It was disappointing to concede a goal so early and then concede another one after Marcus had pulled a goal back for us. But there is plenty to take from the game.”
Meanwhile, as preparations get under way for Saturday’s big derby clash at Colchester United, former City forward Ian Henderson could make a shock comeback to English football against his boyhood club this weekend.
The ex-England Under-21 player, who grew up in Thetford, has signed a permanent deal with the U’s after an unsuccessful spell in Turkey with Ankaragucu.
And United boss Aidy Boothroyd could unleash the ‘tenacious’ striker-cum-winger on his former employees in Saturday’s League One grudge match.
“He is a player I had in the Norwich youth team,” said Boothroyd, quoted in the East Anglian Daily Times.
“He has lost his way a bit, went to Turkey and, as is so often the way with British players who go to foreign climes, it hasn’t worked out for him.
“He is a tenacious, horrible little player to play against and he never stops running. Technically he is good too. Hopefully we can give him a springboard to relaunch his career.”
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