Norwich head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup praised his side for fighting back to draw 1-1 at Hull after he demanded “I want to see my football team back”.
The Norwich boss had some tough words for his team as they trailed 1-0 at half-time to the relegation-threatened side, including for Kellen Fisher – but the player then delivered the assist for Josh Sargent’s equaliser.
The United States forward’s second-half effort was a reply to Hull taking a 14th-minute lead through Matt Crooks’ fine finish.
Thorup said: “I told Kellen (Fisher) to step up in his crossing game because that was not good enough at all in the first half.
“I told Lucien (Mahovo) to do the same because that was also not good enough in the first half. I told our midfield that they need to be even better on the ball if they consider themselves as technically good midfielders.
“And I think they showed that. The delivery from Kellen was a good one.
“We know Josh (Sargent) will always be first in those situations if the delivery is good enough quality.
“And after what we saw from Jacob Wright, probably after a shaky start, was that he developed in the game and got better and better.
“Based on the previous two home games we’ve played (a draw and loss), my message to the boys had been ‘I want to see my football team back’, I want to see my players play the way they can play.
“I know it’s difficult because we play with new midfielders but still we have expectations that we can go away from home and control the game and I think what they did from minute 15 to the end was good.
“It was a really poor start to the game. In the first 15 minutes, we were off. You could see that first goal coming. But from minute 15-20 onwards, it was us being on top.”
Hull head coach Ruben Selles said: “Every point is gold for us in the situation that we are in.
“We have an argument that we could get three points but the opposition had a few chances. I think the game was competitive, the game was equal and the point is probably fair for everyone.
“We want to always get three points but recent experiences like today have not got any points – and today we got the point. It’s put us a little bit closer to the target and we will build from there.
“We scored the goal. But sometimes you play against an opponent that starts to connect a little bit better – and that pushed us backwards. The goal early in the second half meant we had to restart again. But after that we managed the game well.
“It’s obvious in that situation when we conceded that we need to defend better. We need to analyse and work harder in the training ground.”
