Robin Sainty on Norwich win at Stoke and Kenny McLean

I have often criticised City’s passive approaches away from home this season, but at Stoke the Canaries were on the front foot from the first minute and never relented, even after multiple substitutions.

There was a strange atmosphere at the bet365 Stadium, with the home fans hardly reacting to the PA announcement of their team, and largely silent throughout, with most of the noise coming from a raucous away end.

In fact, the biggest reaction to the team news was the chorus of boos that erupted from the City fans at the name of Ben Pearson, who has never been forgiven for getting Emi Buendia sent off while playing for Bournemouth, and there was certainly no sympathy from the away section when he made an early exit after just 20 minutes having injured himself committing one of the cynical fouls which are his stock in trade.

That was a significant moment, because without Pearson’s aggression, Stoke’s midfield suddenly looked incredibly lightweight and within 10 minutes City were two goals to the good and had also forced an outstanding save from home keeper Daniel Iversen.

City’s first goal was a perfect example of Stoke’s disorganisation with Kenny McLean was allowed to carry the ball some 20 yards and, despite having three Stoke players around him, was unchallenged as he split the defence for Borja Sainz to set up Josh Sargent.

McLean has been a model of consistency in City’s resurgence and was involved in all three goals as well as winning a series of important tackles, but crucially it was a day when City’s midfielders all produced top form at the same time.

After a sloppy start, Marcelino Nunez seemed to be everywhere and was always on hand to pick up anything that McLean missed, while Gabriel Sara, who can sometimes drift in and out of games, was constantly dictating play from the moment his sublime outside-of-the-foot pass freed Jack Stacey in City’s first attack.

Sam McCallum in action during the win at Stoke (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd)

It’s also worth mentioning the contribution of Sam McCallum. As in the game at Portman Road before Christmas, he had a difficult start and was left trailing his man on a couple of occasions, but grew into the game and his first-time cross to Sargent which resulted in Iversen’s second outstanding save of the day illustrated just what an effective attacking threat he is.

It will be interesting to see what happens in the summer. He clearly has work to do on his defending and is in many ways similar to Bali Mumba in that he looks like a natural wingback, but with Dimi Giannoulis also out of contract he may well be seen by Ben Knapper as having a greater capacity for further development given that he’s five years younger than the Greek international.

On the one hand it’s a shame that we now have an international break, given City’s form, but on the other it offers more recovery time for players carrying knocks or coming back from injury.

Given how results fell away without key players earlier in the season I think everyone connected to the club will be praying for better luck in terms of injuries going forward.

There is no doubt that the last few weeks have been a triumph for David Wagner, who has bounced back in a manner that has surprised many, and he deserves huge credit for that, regardless of whether or not people see him as the long-term solution.

Undoubtedly, the current system is working extremely effectively, although it will soon be tested by tougher challenges than those posed by Rotherham and Stoke, but momentum is a wonderful thing, and there is no doubt that City now have it in spades.