Paddy Davitt delivered his Wolves verdict after Norwich City's 1-0 FA Cup fourth round victory.

1. Wagons roll

A fourth win in the last five in all competitions. These are almost giddy days, in contrast to the thin gruel and, frankly, the dispiriting first part of this season. Norwich may not bank another precious three Premier League points for securing a passage to the FA Cup fifth round. But they did harness another dollop of self belief, confidence and momentum.

The sight of Billy Gilmour and Mathias Normann back in the fold also added to a growing sense the corner may have been turned. Whether the end destination is Premier League survival or not remains in the balance. But City are up for the scrap, and they genuinely believe.

Against a Wolves outfit well on course for a top 10 league finish this season, Norwich were their equal. They carved out the best chances, bar perhaps Daniel Podence’s low shot which kindly rebounded at the feet of stand in Michael McGovern after clipping his right hand post.

But they were also resolute in the face of a stinging response after half-time from the previously lethargic hosts.

With Grant Hanley and Ben Gibson marshalling the troops they stood firm and they deservedly held out. It was another collective demonstration of the traits required for the battles ahead. But City fans can look forward with relish, no longer trepidation.

2. Billy the kid

There looked to be an added feeling to the goal celebrations that greeted Kenny McLean’s looping headed winner in first half stoppage time. City’s goalscorer and his team mates converged on Gilmour, who delivered the most perfect inswinging free kick met by his compatriot.

This was Gilmour’s first public sighting in a Norwich shirt since that toxic Christmas defeat at Crystal Palace, and the negative reaction to the young Scot from a section of a frustrated travelling support.

Plenty has been said about that fallout. Too much perhaps.

But Gilmour’s Chelsea profile and his status as one of the game’s rising stars, for club and country, appears to magnify every twist and turn of his actions on the park. No-one, least of all Gilmour himself, would contest a season long loan conceived to benefit all parties had failed to spark thus far.

But in Dean Smith he has a coach who believes in him, and team mates who also hold him in the highest regard. There was also a noticeable zip and quickness to his passing, and the overall tempo of his game, before a match-sealing intervention.

This was a big day for the midfielder. The questions will persist, but Gilmour delivered his own response where it mattered.

3. Full house for Deano

City’s head coach admitted at his pre-match press call this coming run of games, beginning with an FA Cup tie at Wolves and then swiftly followed by league games against Palace and Manchester City, would test his ability to juggle the squad.

A balancing act centred around maintaining that winning feeling while weighing up who can last the pace, who needs a breather and how to re-integrate some of the returning players lacking in match fitness. He got every single call right on this occasion.

He even had to handle the curveball of Josh Sargent’s precautionary call off less than an hour before kick-off, after the American complained of feeling unwell. One hopes that does not rule him out for midweek.

But perhaps the most eyebrow raising selection call was McGovern entrusted with his first senior appearance since December 2020.

Smith revealed afterwards his mind was made up in the immediate aftermath of that recent Hornets’ win. With Tim Krul out for the foreseeable, it was a 'no risk' strategy taken with Angus Gunn, who you would expect returns for the Eagles’ pending league visit.

That tells you everything about Smith’s faith in his personnel but also his nous and willingness to take some big calls and get them right. As much as this is now Norwich’s players who have to drive the fightback, Smith is the leader of the pack.

He has to get more right than wrong down the stretch as well.

4. Mighty Mathias

There was a symmetry to the sight of Normann’s second half re-appearance against a side he hobbled painfully out of the fray in the Premier League tussle at Carrow Road.

That was the start of a prolonged period on the sidelines in an attempt to finally solve the pelvic-related issues that had blighted Normann’s performances. Not that you would have known, given his impact as arguably City’s stand out summer signing.

The Rostov loanee brought a composure on the ball, a drive from the middle of the park and a physicality and intensity to his play that had endeared him to City fans.

One can also still remember the emotional reaction at the final whistle to that first league win at Brentford, secured in part by his first Premier League goal for the club.

Normann had been a big miss until Smith’s recent winning formula. Now free from pain and the other side of surgery, his return is a massive boost for the challenge ahead.

The bigger headache for his boss now is how he perms a healthier stock of midfielders, with Lukas Rupp set to be added to the mix. But that is one dilemma Smith will gladly tackle.

5. Storming the Palace

What a game in store now at Carrow Road. Norwich fans will hardly need telling what is at stake.

From a forlorn quest to even be part of the conversation at the bottom, a win over the Eagles, on the back of progress to the fifth round of the cup, would reinforce the sense Norwich should be taken seriously.

The mocking jeers and the jibes have halted since those league wins over Everton and notably Watford. But follow up with three more points back in Norfolk and those direct rivals around them in the table will continue to shift uneasily.

That festive defeat for a heavily depleted City squad at Selhurst Park, and the negative torrent it unleashed, marked a real low. Smith alluded to it after beating Wolves.

He feels the stinging nature of the criticism was way over the top, and completely overlooked the mitigation around the lack of resource at that stage. He also tellingly added those under his command are still smarting from the barbs and determined to prove a few wrong.

If that is the fuel driving this upturn, long may it continue. Norwich’s hard edge, or ‘sturdiness’ as Smith labelled it after this fourth round win, was again evident at Molineux. Push overs no longer.