Spud Thornhill: City ensured I could hold my head up high after Anfield

One thing I had to find out from day one was, who were the football fans - and who did they support?

I was pleased to find that in a work force of eight, including me, five of us are football fans. Out of that five, four of us are Norwich fans and are all season ticket holders. And, no, that wasn't one of the conditions I took in to account before taking the job.

The other football fan, Simon, is a Liverpool supporter. Typical... every workplace has one.

Luckily he is a fellow runner, so we could talk about our latest runs instead of discussing our opinions on Luis Suarez or Jurgen Klopp.

The build-up to last Saturday’s game was very tame. Not much banter was going round the work place. Me and my fellow Canaries were being very quiet about the forthcoming game fearing yet another defeat against the Reds. I believe Simon was being sympathetic, saying how Norwich could bring a surprise or two.

How I laughed, considering our record against them and their quality all over the park. But little did I know.

I just wished these were the games during the late 80s and early 90s, when we used to beat Liverpool on a regular basis home and away. I have great memories of so many great results. I would definitely have fun at work discussing them.

Those days of beating Liverpool and many other so-called big teams on a regular basis are a thing of the past for us. Yes, we may get the odd win like we did against Manchester City in 2019, but back in the day it was not such a big thing. Like the memories of winning at Stamford Bridge for three consecutive seasons through to beating Manchester United on five consecutive occasions... it was just the norm.

So last Saturday, I wasn't looking forward to it. I kept hoping we would avoid yet another big defeat against them. A narrow defeat would be fine, I could handle that. I just wanted to hold my head up long enough, knowing Norwich had done okay for when I returned to work on Monday.

Come half-time I was just buzzing at the way we'd held our own, against the same side who brushed Inter Milan away just few days earlier. The same side who had not lost this year.

Milot Rashica celebrates his goal at Anfield (Image: ©Focus Images Limited www.focus-images.co.uk +44 7813 022858)

Then, five minutes into the second half, we had the Milot Rashica moment. For 16 whole minutes the world was a wonderful place. My brain was going into overdrive with so many different thoughts. Was Rashica going to join a small gang of Norwich players who’ve scored winning goals against Liverpool? Amongst many other things.

But it was not to be. Jurgen Klopp made changes and players like Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah produced their magic.

A lot of praise must go to Norwich boss Dean Smith, his backroom staff and the players on how we have become a tougher side to beat. Okay, we are now back on the bottom of the league, but last week's result was never going to define our season.

Hopefully, with more resilient performances, starting tonight at Southampton, we could still turn it around. My only concern is up front, with striker Adam Idah out of action for the rest of the season. Yet again all our hopes are on Teemu Pukki.

Let’s hope players like Rashica, who has shown fantastic quality, can keep his form and play a massive part in us staying up. If he can provide opportunities for Pukki like he did against Crystal Palace we could be okay.

Considering how kind Simon was to me when we returned to work on Monday morning, I will have to remember this on Thursday morning ... when we have knocked Liverpool out of the FA Cup.