Dowell's mission to make up for lost time at City

The attacking midfielder made just his sixth start of the campaign in the Canaries' 3-2 defeat to Manchester United on Saturday, scoring one and assisting the other.

Dowell has injected a degree of technical quality that has been severely lacking throughout the course of this campaign in City's last two matches.

Initially, supporters were a tad surprised to see the former Everton man selected ahead of players like Jon Rowe and Przemek Placheta given his game time has been limited throughout the majority of this season under both head coaches.

But now the opportunity has arrived on the Premier League stage, Dowell is hungry to grab it with both hands and prove himself to Dean Smith.

“I feel like since he put me in the team, I’ve taken my chance.

“The numbers speak for themselves but I feel like I’ve played okay in the games I’ve played.

“I just think there were preferred players in my position with the way that the gaffer wanted the team to play," the 24-year-old said post-match.

“You just have to be patient. I’m trying to show the best version of myself every day and I’ve had to wait for my opportunity.

“Once I’m playing, I feel like that is my opportunity to impress. That is what I will keep trying to do. “

Dowell has acted as a connector between City's midfield and attack, helping their counter attacking style flourish in the process.

His pass that set Teemu Pukki racing away for his 10th Premier League goal of the season graphically illustrates the technical quality the midfielder has in abundance.

When City do steal possession, Milot Rashica and Pukki seek to run in behind their opponents' defence leaving Dowell to drop deeper in the hope of threading passes through.

That method saw them split open United's fragile defence on countless occasions at Old Trafford, with Dowell himself nodding in on the stroke of half-time to help City find their way back into the contest.

Since Dowell's return to the side, Norwich's attacking numbers have vastly improved and he feels they are a better team when attempting to hurt teams on the break.

“This season, we see counter attacking as being one of our strengths.

“To do that, the first pass has to be good and that was the case today. It is the key to any good counter attack.

“Then it’s about getting numbers close to Teemu [Pukki] and Milot [Rashica] to make sure we sustain that attack. That is the main thing.

“It’s vital to have a balance,” Dowell said.

“The gaffer is always on about one coming short and the other two going deeper. That’s why I like to come short so it’s nice that they like to go deep so it works quite well."

Had it not have been for individual errors, Norwich may well have left Old Trafford with a point or more.

Dowell was integral to their attacking efforts before being replaced just after the hour mark.

The attacking midfielder revealed after the game that he had suffered from tight hamstrings during the week as a result of completing his first 90 minutes in a while last weekend.

For a player who was born in Liverpool, netting at Old Trafford would have tasted even sweeter.

Given the position Norwich found themselves before that goal, it served as a springboard to draw themselves level early on in the second half.

“We felt like we were a bit down after Ronaldo's second goal. We were trying to get to half-time with the game at 2-0.

“That goal was a good boost and was a lifeline for us, really. It gave us the belief that we could go and get more goals in the game," City's midfielder said.

“I think we showed composure on the ball and we need to prove to ourselves that when we break presses and are through on goal that we can get past them."

Norwich looked lively on the break and created a handful of really good opportunities against an open Manchester United team.

Kieran Dowell put in another impressive performance for Norwich City against Manchester United. (Image: ©Focus Images Limited www.focus-images.co.uk +44 7813 022858)

Dowell feels that was down, in part, to the attacking nature of their midfield set-up offered, where Paul Pogba, Bruno Fernandes and Jesse Lingard all started.

That created space for Norwich to roam into, as Dowell found out when he surged forward before playing Pukki through on goal for the Canaries' equaliser.

“When we showed good composure to play out, they obviously had three attacking midfielders in [Jesse] Lingard, [Bruno] Fernandes and [Paul] Pogba.

“Once you got past them, they had to sit off a little bit. It was just doing that. When they were dominating the ball and keeping it in our half, that is when it became difficult to get out.

“That’s when they can control the game. We had to turn the tide by getting a goal back.”

Last season, Dowell had to be patient as Emi Buendia tore up the Championship with Todd Cantwell impressing on the other wing.

12 months on, both are no longer at the club with Buendia moving to Aston Villa last summer and Cantwell joining Championship side Bournemouth on loan in January having been out of favour under Daniel Farke and Smith.

That has created a vacancy for Dowell, one he has grabbed with both hands in City's last two matches.

The challenge for the midfielder now is to show consistency for the remainder of the campaign.