Norwich City chief Alex Neil admitted it was a touch greedy but a second consecutive clean sheet topped an emphatic 4-0 Championship win over Blackpool at Carrow Road.

Gary Hooper's hat-trick and Nathan Redmond's stunning 25-yard free kick deep in stoppage time moved the Canaries up a place to seventh, three points outside the play-off spots.

Seb Bassong was forced off with a back injury early in the first half, but John Ruddy's goal was again well-protected after the previous weekend's league shut-out at Birmingham.

'If we had won the game 4-2 I would still be happy,' said Neil. 'I would have been disappointed at conceding goals because we have worked on making sure we are more solid at the back and I thought we limited Blackpool to very little. I think scoring four goals, regardless of who you are playing against, and managing to keep a clean sheet is always pleasing.

'These games can be difficult and tricky at times. With us being the home team you are on a hiding to nothing. If you win comfortably it is expected and if you don't it's a bit of a disaster, so I am really pleased for the lads.'

Neil was joined in the dugout for the first time at Norwich by his assistant manager Frankie McAvoy who moved south from Hamilton last week.

'Frankie is an out-going character. He is the type who mingles very well and probably will give me a bit of balance in terms of the person I am,' said Neil. 'The one thing I would say is that Gary Holt and Tony Parks have worked fantastically well. When I first arrived I went through everything in terms of how I expect us to function as a group and they are carrying the messages I want to get across to the players.'