Johannes Hoff Thorup has praised the patience of the Norwich City fan base to help get Ante Crnac firing in front of goal.

The 20-year-old Croatian notched three times, and served up a classy assist, in the Championship home wins over Plymouth and Luton after responding to the Dane’s call for more end product.

Crnac earned a standing ovation from the home fans after his starring role against the Hatters, but admitted he had felt pressure from the £8.5m price tag that brought him to England.

“It tells everyone in football this story about being patient,” said Thorup. “I know, and it's more than fair, that when we don't perform we hear about that and we have to comment on that. That's more than fine.

"But you know, in football, if you do the right stuff, and if you build an environment that is just based on high standards and great performance, from Monday to Friday, then eventually you start to see the benefits from it.

“That's also the case with Ante. I think the most important thing for us was to keep on showing him that trust, which he needed. Also, I think the fans kept on believing in him. I think there's not been any critical voices, or at least none that I could hear when we played games with him.

"That's what it's all about. Because in football, it can change like this, and it can go so fast one way or another, and we just have to stick to what we do. And then hopefully we see the benefits.”

Crnac will be a key figure at QPR this weekend as City look to continue their revival following a tough spell prior to the last international period.

“When we played at home against Bristol, I could just see there were no more energy. We were done. There were no more performance left in that group, for obvious reasons,” said Thorup.

“But then with some training and getting some players back fit again, and also looking at the games, reflecting, analysing where we can improve and so on, I think actually, the West Brom performance was a big step for us, because it meant a lot to the group that we were finally back, we're creating chances, we were offensive minded and we tried to win the game even though it's a difficult place to go.

“We kept that going against Plymouth, and I think for moments, and for many moments of the Luton game, we are there to entertain and we are there to score goals.”