Cheer Jonny Howson to the rafters by all means, but Daniel Farke joked on Friday he wants him celebrating another Norwich City win at the final whistle.

Howson makes his first Carrow Road return, after a five-year stint with the Canaries, in Middlesbrough colours.

The popular midfielder lost his first reunion up at the Riverside earlier in the season but made a point of congratulating his former team-mates on the pitch at the final whistle.

'I think he will get a good reception. Jonny did a lot for this club,' said Farke.

'All I can say in the short period I worked with him he is a really good guy and also one of the best midfielders in the whole league.

'I was pretty sad in this moment when he left us because he can be a key player.

'At Middlesbrough he showed us a lot of respect and congratulated all the lads, even though they had just lost. It is not so easy when you have left a club and then the old club comes and plays well in a spicy game.

'His first thoughts were to congratulate the guys. He is pretty welcome to celebrate another Norwich win with us!'

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Farke can get past the sour nature of Howson's close-season exit.

City sporting director Stuart Webber accused the midfielder of acting in an 'unprofessional' manner prior to his departure.

'Perhaps in terms of how he left the club it was not the best way to go but in general that is how it can happen in football,' said Farke.

'I don't go too deep with it.

'We spoke about the situation and between us everything is fine.

'I am looking forward to seeing him again. He produced some brilliant performances for Norwich.

'You can't say whether we would have been higher up the table if he had stayed here.

'We might have been lower.

'In football what I learned is to adapt to reality, and his wish in pre-season was he wanted to move.

'Then we had to sell him. Stuart and the board made it clear we wanted to go on with players who wanted to be here and would give us all their energy and heart to bring successful times.

'Jonny made it clear his wish was to move and to go to Middlesbrough so we agreed.'

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