FA Cup match-winner Kenny McLean believes the Norwich City squad are united in their belief that they can earn Premier League survival, after keeping the faith during the tough times.
After a distressing run of form coincided with injury and illness problems, the Canaries have turned their season around with four wins in five games in all competitions.
That was continued with Saturday’s 1-0 victory at Wolves, earning an impressive win against top-flight opposition to secure a place in the fifth round – making December’s horrid six-game losing streak without a goal seem like ancient history.
“We’ve all been in tough times, in football and in life, and none more so than in the last couple of years,” McLean told the Pink Un after the victory at Molineux.
“We need to remind ourselves what we’re doing. We’re doing something that we love and we need to continue to work as hard as we can.
“We know that we weren’t doing well enough, we know that we weren’t pleasing everybody and the fans were disappointed, and that was just the way it was.
“But we knew we had the character and it’s character that’s got this out of us, that determination. We showed a real togetherness because it wasn’t a case of pointing fingers at each other, it was looking in the mirror and realising 'can I do more?'.
“Everybody, I’m sure, at the time, thought 'yes I can'. We’re doing more now so this is a marker for us, this is the minimum we need to show, that hard work and that desire because we know we have got the quality to get us out of this.”
The 1-0 success allowed City to return from the winter break and earn a third successive win, having beaten Everton and Watford in the Premier League at the end of last month.
With Watford held to a 0-0 draw at Burnley in the league on Saturday, both teams remain below the Canaries in the final survival position of 17th ahead of Wednesday’s home clash with mid-table Crystal Palace.
“It was a hard-fought game,” the Scotland midfielder said. “It was backs to the wall at times in the second half but we showed great resilience, we hung in there and got the job done, which is what it’s all about.
“We got the goal, still showed moments of quality and created chances. We limited them at times, they put some balls into our box but clearcut chances, Mick didn’t have too much to do.
“So pleasing all-round, Mick McGovern coming in with a clean sheet, excellent.”
The 30-year-old produced the decisive moment during first half injury-time, flicking on a Billy Gilmour free-kick that looped over everyone, after Adam Idah had wasted two great chances during the opening 45 minutes.
So, was it a pre-planned set-piece move?
“Of course it was,” the Scot said with a smile. “We work on set-pieces a lot and that’s usually my job, to get across the first man and I've not got on them enough this season, or since I’ve been here really.
“I’ve had one or two but it’s usually a run that I make. It was just good to contribute but we need to do that more and not rely on the guys at the top end of the pitch.”
Despite a horrible start to the campaign, defending set-pieces has actually been an area of strength for Norwich, even before Dean Smith replaced Daniel Farke as head coach in November.
Improving that area offensively has been a big focus though.
“I think we’ve been doing it well, set-pieces against,” McLean continued. “We’ve been defending really well, we’re switched on, everyone’s doing their job and knows their jobs.
“It’s something that is massive in the game, we know that it can get you results and this game has showed that.
“We work on them a lot, even throw-ins and stuff like that, you don’t realise how big that stuff can be. A simple throw-in, whether it’s keeping it or winning it back, it’s something we work on a lot.”
The midfielder admitted he wasn’t sure if his header had done the job initially.
“I lost it,” he added. “When I flicked it on I was kind of going forwards and looking over my shoulder but when I heard the away fans and it was confirmed it had hit the net, it was a good feeling.”
The Canaries will learn their fifth-round opponents when the draw is made at 11.40am today and McLean agrees with his boss that the FA Cup can help City’s situation, with players including Gilmour and Mathias Normann returning from injury yesterday.
“I think both teams went all out to get the win,” he said. “Some will say they don’t care about the cup but we’re desperate to have a good run and see it as an opportunity.
“You never know how far we can go and the fans as well, it can give them something to look forward to, so I think you could see how much we wanted to win that with our defending and stuff towards the end, it was great.”
With Gilmour playing 72 minutes at Wolves and Normann coming on in the 66th minute, Lukas Rupp also bolsters the midfield ranks after returning to training.
Christoph Zimmermann played 90 minutes for the under-23s on Friday and fellow centre-back Andrew Omobamidele is also due to resume training, leaving goalkeeper Tim Krul (shoulder) and Jacob Sorensen (knee) in the treatment room but with both expected back before the end of the month.
“There’s so much competition for places, it’s like new signings coming back,” McLean said when asked about City not signing anyone during January.
“I’m sure everybody wants to go and buy a superstar, whether it’s top or bottom of the table it doesn’t matter, but we feel we’ve got enough to stay in this league.
“We’ve got the belief here, we’ve got players coming back, we’re on a good run, momentum is with us, the belief is there and we want to keep that going.”
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