Across the Border: The Norwich View

Norwich City will take some stopping in the Championship this season.

That was the assessment of Bournemouth chief Eddie Howe after his side, themselves famed for a stylish brand of football, knocked the Canaries out of the League Cup on Tuesday night.

Howe’s ringing endorsement came alongside an admission that the Premier League outfit rode their luck against a City team, who despite showing eight changes from the 1-0 win against Brentford, dominated proceedings.

You’ve always got to be careful when analysing statistics, but City had more possession, shots and corners than their top-flight opposition.

While naturally Daniel Farke would have been happier had his side scraped an undeserved 1-0 victory, it was another evening of great encouragement for City’s boss.

Returning from injury, Onel Hernandez terrified the Bournemouth back-line, but it was the performances of City’s fringe players that caught the eye - none more so than Mario Vrancic.

After missing pre-season, Mario has been unlucky not to feature more often this term, largely down to the form of the likes of Marco Stiepermann and Moritz Leitner.

But with Stiepermann and Todd Cantwell both missing Tuesday through injury, the Bosnian midfielder will be hoping to make his first league start of the season at Sheffield Wednesday tomorrow.

He is likely to be joined in the starting 11 by the fit again Teemu Pukki, with Jordan Rhodes ineligible, and Dennis Srbeny squandering chances against the Cherries.

Having played around 20 minutes of league football since his brace against Cardiff in August, I won’t be too hard on Srbeny.

But the focus now returns to the league and tomorrow’s trip to Hillsborough – a ground where City have shipped 10 goals in the last two seasons.

Let’s hope for a better outcome this time round.