Defeat is tough to take as Sheffield Wednesday go close to turning table

With fans present at Carrow Road for just the second time this season, Norwich struggled for long periods against a game Wednesday side and went behind on the hour mark when Josh Windass nodded home a left-wing cross from Adam Reach.

Norwich kept battling away and were rewarded when first Josh Martin and then Max Aarons scored in the 81st and 84th minutes to move their side back to the top of the table above Bournemouth and Reading, who had won their earlier fixtures.

Martin, who had only just come on as a substitute, guided the ball home from close range after latching onto a slide-rule pass from Mario Vrancic to net his first goal for the club.

Aarons then rounded off a neat move on the right with an assured finish into the far corner to settle the issue.

Pulis said of his bottom-placed Owls: “First and foremost I can’t have any complaints about the effort the lads put in – they gave it everything and it is very disappointing to come away empty-handed.

“I was just disappointed with the way we let it slip at the end. I think we just started to feel a little bit sorry for ourselves when things started going against us and started to give the ball away, drop deeper and deeper and invite them onto us.

“Up until then, I thought we had done really well. We had defended well and played some nice football at times. We got our goal, should really have scored another one and could easily been awarded a couple of penalties.

“It’s a tough one to take but we have just got to put it behind us because there is another game coming up in midweek.

“They seem to be fitting in as many games as they can before Christmas, which is tough for the players, but it is the same for everyone so we just have to get on with it.

“There are plenty of positives to take but this is group who are not used to winning and are perhaps lacking a bit of confidence and that is obviously something we have to change.”

Norwich manager Daniel Farke was grateful for the vocal backing of 2,000 supporters.

“I thought they played their part and I am really pleased we got the win for them in the end.

“There were only 2,000 in but it seemed like a lot more than that with all the noise they made. Their support really helped the players to get back into game and we are very grateful to them.

“Sheffield Wednesday made it very difficult for us but I thought we deserved the win in the end. The lads kept going and did very well to come from behind – that is never easy against a Tony Pulis team.”

Norwich City: McGovern, Aarons, Hanley, Gibson, Sorensen, Skipp; Vrancic (Omotoye 90), Emi, Stiepermann (Martin 79); Placheta (Tettey 89), Pukki. Unused substitutes: Zimmermann, McAlear, Omobamidele, Barden, Dickson-Peters.

Sheffield Wednesday: Wildsmith, Odubajo (Kachunga 88), Lees, Borner, van Aken; Reach, Harris (Brown 88), Paterson, Iorfa (Pelupessy 53), Bannan; Windass (Palmer 66). Unused substitutes: Penney, Dele-Bashiru, Rhodes, Dawson, Hunt.

Referee: J Gillett (Australia).

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