Phil Sumbler
Despite being in the play off positions heading into the international break, Norwich City manager Dean Smith was rumoured to be under some pressure with the expectation this season very much for a return to the Premier League at Carrow Road.
The Canaries have become a side that goes up and seemingly comes straight back down in recent years and they certainly have a desire to be back in the top flight again come the end of this season which meant that a play off spot is probably lower than they wanted heading towards Christmas.
The Norwich boss will though have been boosted by their win in SA1 yesterday which sees them in fourth place in the table but now five points ahead of their hosts the Swans.
It wasn’t a perfect afternoon for Norwich with the Swans dominant in possession again but the reality was the damage was done in the first two minutes and we never managed to get ourselves back in the game thanks to a strong and determined Norwich performance of their own.
“It’s a really positive result. It’s a tough place to come, Swansea are a really good footballing team, possession-based. After that defeat against Middlesbrough, I was really disappointed how we had been playing without the ball, I made that point,” Smith told the Norwich official website after the game.
“And I thought today, we played better without the ball. Against a possession-based team who want to play through you, we made them play on the outside of us and cross the ball into the box. If you speak to Ben Gibson and Grant Hanley, that’s what they’ll want.
“There’s always things to improve on. Certainly, the second half today with the ball, we could have been better. We felt that we built up really well in the first half, we got Kenny the other side of them, and Isaac, and we switched play well.
“In the second half, we made it a little bit tough for ourselves, we gave the ball away a little bit too cheap.”
