It was a long wait for Kieran Dowell but the midfielder took his chance for Norwich City last night, scoring as the Canaries won 2-0 at Nottingham Forest to move closer to promotion.

The former Everton prospect smashed the Canaries 2-0 ahead in just the 13th minute as Daniel Farke’s team reclaimed their 10 point lead at the Championship summit and moved 13 clear of third-placed Swansea.

“Really nice,” Dowell said after scoring his first goal since September. “My first start in a while so it was nice to get a good, early start and a nice goal to settle the nerves a bit.

“It’s been a frustrating six months, with two (ankle) operations and not being in the team, I’ve had to bide my time but I was pleased to get a start tonight and do well.”

It was a ninth consecutive victory for City, dominating Forest to continue their impressive march back towards the Premier League.

“We’re buzzing,” Dowell continued. “They couldn’t really live with us in the first half, we were cutting them open, really enjoying our football, that was one of the best I’ve seen from us, to be fair.

“It was really good in the first half and then we got the job done in the second half.”

The win was all the more satisfying for being achieved without star man Emi Buendia, whose partner had given birth to their second child the previous evening, with the creative maestro ruling himself out of action after a hectic 24 hours and minimal sleep.

It afforded 23-year-old Dowell his first league start of 2021 and he was pleased to ensure the Argentine’s absence wouldn’t prove as decisive as it often has in recent years.

“We’ve got strength in depth all over the pitch,” Dowell added. “There’s players that can fill in everywhere, we’ve got lots of individual quality and I think that showed, in the first half especially.

“I enjoy it off the right, coming inside, because that’s the way we play, with our wingers coming off the inside a little bit, so it was nice linking up with Lukas (Rupp), who was in the 10, and Todd on the left, it worked well.”