City midfielder Andrew Crofts is already thinking about a return to Norfolk, despite being called-up to the Wales squad for this week’s friendly with Luxembourg in Llanelli.
Crofts has been the most impressive of Lambert’s summer signings and he got his new side back into Friday night’s clash with Watford with that excellent right-footed strike to make it 2-1.
As we all know, the Hornets ran out 3-2 winners, but Crofts put in another battling performance and unfortunately for Paul Lambert and Co, he will now miss tomorrow’s Carling Cup contest with Gillingham.
But even though he cherishes his international recognition, the former Brighton player’s “bread and butter” is at Carrow Road.
“It is nice to get called up,” he told reporters. “I have really just been looking ahead to the Watford game but I will be back on Thursday raring to go again.
“It is a tough one because all managers want to keep their players but I’m looking forward to the Wales game. However, Norwich City is my bread and butter and I can’t wait to get back and play for Norwich again.”
Tomorrow’s Carrow Road encounter against the Gills offers Norwich a great opportunity to bounce back after the opening day defeat. And Crofts is confident that will happen, despite his absence in the engine room.
The Watford lessons will be learned – that’s the message.
“The lads are disappointed; we wanted to get things started with a win, there is no hiding that. But it has gone now – we have to think about the next one and win it.
“I think we are a good unit – everyone defends, not just the defenders but the whole team. We will just put the result behind us. We have a great set of lads here and we will just focus now.
“But you can’t really give teams in this league two goals because it is always hard to get back. But saying that, when we nicked a goal in the second-half I really did think we would go on to get a point.
“We were on the front foot and the next goal was going to be the big one, unfortunately it did not go our way. Like I say, we have to forget about that and think about the next game now.”
It was a first taste of Championship action for Crofts and, as expected, it is a significant step up from the third tier. City boss Lambert admitted that errors will be punished more at this level, but the all-action midfielder is still confident that Norwich can more than hold their own.
“I think it is a step up – everyone knows that,” he continued. “As I said, if you make mistakes you will get punished for it but think we are more than capable of doing well in this league.
“We just have to be positive. The lads came out in the second-half with a positive attitude and we just have to start the first-half like that, and keep building.”
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