It is maybe a sign of how far the Canaries have come, but City boss Paul Lambert was disappointed his side didn’t return to Norfolk with all three points last night after a creditable 0-0 draw at league leaders QPR.
Wes Hoolahan missed a first-half penalty when pulling his spot-kick wide after Clint Hill had felled Grant Holt in the penalty area.
But City competed well throughout and never really looked like being troubled at the other end, even though ex-Norwich target Kaspars Gorkss was denied by a goal-line clearance from Andrew Crofts late on.
And the Canary chief was a happy man afterwards, even though he thought they were worth all three points instead of the one.
“I’m delighted but I thought we should have won it,” Lambert told Canaries Player after the Loftus Road stalemate.
“We should have been two-up at half-time but what a performance that was. I thought we were brilliant.
“I thought we defended brilliantly as a team when we had to and Wardy [Elliott Ward] and Leon [Barnett] just keep on getting better. It was a monumentally big performance from us.
“QPR are a team that will be there or thereabouts come the end of the season and we came here and gave as good as we got.
“Wes is a bit down in there but as I’ve said to him, there have been some big moments when he has produced moments of brilliance for us,” added Lambert, discussing the penalty miss.
“It happened but you’ve got to pick yourself up and go again; I really thought we were brilliant.”
City were backed by a 3,100-strong travelling army in West London and Lambert paid tribute to the supporters once again. They have been magnificent for a good while now…
“Our fans have been brilliant since I’ve been here. All credit to the football club but I think they always will be. They’ve backed us to the hilt.
“The fans go on long, long journeys and we’ve done everything we can to give them something against a team that have been flying all season.”
There was one piece of bad news to come out of City’s day out in the capital, with long-serving defender Adam Drury picking up another knock.
This time it’s his calf, after a hamstring complaint forced him out of the 3-0 win at Bristol City. And Lambert admitted he is now unlikely to make Tuesday’s Carrow Road clash with Crystal Palace.
“He’s got a problem with his calf at the minute and he’ll be a doubt for Tuesday. But Steven Smith came on and did well. He’s unfortunate to find himself out of the team but I’ve got to pick a team that I think will win games.
“Adam has been in top form for us since I’ve been at the club and I just thought it was right that he started the game.”
City: Ruddy; R Martin, Ward, Barnett, Drury (S Smith 58); Crofts, K Smith, Lappin; Hoolahan (C Martin 69); Holt, Jackson. Subs not used: Rudd, Fox, Johnson, McNamee, Askou.
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