Audio: Jonny Howson - Norwich City showed they can cope with pressure

The journey to safety may have felt tougher than last season, but finishing 11th in the Premier League showed what Norwich City are about for Jonny Howson.

The summer squad changes have already started after a season City drifted too close to the drop zone for comfort, before a final flourish that lifted them a place higher than in 2012. There has been praise and criticism for all along the way, but victories over West Brom and at Manchester City to round off the campaign should help ease everyone into the close season.

'It's not just the performance at Manchester City that says a lot about the group – it's these past few weeks,' said Howson.

'We've had some knocks this season and as a group we've always come through them.

'It's shown when the pressure is on we come through, bounce back and put in performances.

'It's hard to say if this season has felt harder than last year – if you look at December, when we had the 10-game unbeaten run, everything was going so well. And from then until February, we really struggled and got dragged into it.

'We've achieved what we set out to do at the start and fair play to the lads for finishing the way they have.

'It's a tough league and maybe this season, bar the bottom two, it did get close – but there were a good eight or nine teams for which it got very tight. Three wins in five, and we've gone from 16th up to 11th.

'I'm sure if you'd have said you are going to finish 11th this season everyone involved with Norwich City Football Club this season would have taken it. It's very pleasing.'