The prospect of an away fixture at a side managed by Chris Hughton at such a crucial stage of the season was surely enough to make even the most confident Norwich City fan slightly nervous.

Executing a defensive masterclass like the one produced by Hughton's City over Manchester United and Arsenal against his former side would have been a tough pill to swallow for Norwich fans.

With an hour gone and the game goalless at The Amex, a 1-0 scoreline either way was looking increasingly likely. But Alex Neil hasn't presided over an away defeat as Norwich manager yet and this wasn't the day that record was about to be broken.

Neil's decision to bring on Nathan Redmond paid off almost instantly as his cut back provided the assist for Bradley Johnson's winner. With that brought the manager's points tally to an incredible 36 points from 48 available since he took charge.

The Scot's stock is rising with every result as the race for promotion continues its remarkable route.

The international break has allowed the hype and pressure around the Championship's top sides to intensify. With the recent run of midweek fixtures sandwiched between each weekend there's hardly any time to dwell on a result.

With 13 days between fixtures, sides like City and Bournemouth were able to bask in the glory of great performances last time out, while Watford were left to stew after conceding a late winner at Ipswich.

During that time as the loan window closed, Neil decided not to bring in a loan player to replace the injured Lewis Grabban, despite being heavily linked with Arsenal's Chuba Akpom, who joined Nottingham Forest.

Elsewhere, Kyle Lafferty's brace for Northern Ireland means he's scored four times in five qualifiers.

Despite Jos Hooiveld's short spell on loan from Southampton and the acquisition of Graham Dorrans, unlike five of their main automatic promotion rivals, none of Norwich's goals have been scored by loanees this season. The system has been utilised to maximum effect in that department by other clubs however.

Middlesbrough's top scorer is Chelsea's Patrick Bamford, Watford's Matej Vydra netted his 13th of the campaign against Derby – whose two scorers were loanees Darren Bent and Tom Ince.

One of Brentford's stand-out players this season has been Tottenham's Alex Pritchard, while Bournemouth signed Cardiff's Kenwyne Jones, who scored on his debut as a substitute at Portman Road on Friday evening.

Of course Lafferty's omission will be forgotten if Norwich clinch a top two spot – but it's a point worth noting in a league that looks like it will be decided on the smallest of margins.