Saturday 7 March 2015 18:40, UK
Alex Neil hailed Norwich's resilience after they bounced back from a midweek loss to Wigan by hammering Millwall 4-1 at The Den to get their promotion challenge firmly back on track.
Five teams are all within touching distance of top spot in the Sky Bet Championship and Neil is convinced his Norwich outfit have the ammunition to challenge for an automatic promotion spot.
Jonny Howson's double inspired Norwich to all three points - he was the game's standout performer - and Neil believes it was a job well done in London.
"We wanted a positive response as we let ourselves down during the week but all you can do is put it behind you and we certainly did that here," he said.
"You've got to win the battles and move the ball quickly but then Jonny Howson produced a wee bit of quality to give us the edge and then we didn't look back.
"In the first 25 minutes after the restart we really turned the screw and I thought we were excellent - it was a good as we've played since I've been here.
"It was a very soft penalty - we pride ourselves on keeping clean sheets and our record has been good in terms of that so it's disappointing to concede a goal that wasn't necessarily merited.
"When the dust settles on this season, we want to be in one of the top two spots.
"I wouldn't say it would be a failure to not reach it but I'll be disappointed as there is no reason we can't continue this run."
The hosts spurned numerous chances in a tense first half until Howson surged from midfield to fire a sublime left-footed strike beyond keeper David Forde.
Gary Hooper doubled the lead with a penalty just before the break after Cameron Jerome was felled by Alan Dunne before Wes Hoolahan made it three and Howson scored his second on the hour.
Stunned Millwall found enough to claim a goal back after Diego Fabbrini won a penalty that Lee Gregory converted but it was too late to ease the pressure on beleaguered manager Ian Holloway.
"Their first goal was more than a blow - we lost it from our throw in and Jonny Howson smashes one in with their first shot on goal," said Holloway.
"Talk about a bullet to your heart, to your soul, but I felt the boys kept going, until all of a sudden we've given a penalty away when it was running out for a throw.
"It gave Norwich a boost of confidence and then we were on the rack for a while but I felt the lads kept going and showed a Millwall spirit but maybe I'm the only one in the ground who did.
"I felt that if I went out there, the fans would vent their spleen on me and that would not benefit the team.
"The difference is the finishing and a bit of quality.
"We were competing with Norwich on almost the same level but they scored and unfortunately the confidence in the group and the pessimism that kicks in after we concede a goal is killing us."
