Kyle Lafferty can be a Norwich City cult hero, says Neil Adams
Kyle Lafferty was left to rue the one that got away in Norwich City's 3-0 Championship win over Watford. Picture by Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd - Credit: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd
Kyle Lafferty has it in his grasp to achieve cult status at Norwich City.
The Northern Irishman's work-rate was as impressive as the undoubted quality in a home Championship debut for the club that ended with a standing ovation from the Carrow Road support when he was replaced by Neil Adams.
'We took him off because I wanted to give other lads a chance, but also to give him that appreciation and recognition from the fans. He didn't score, but he put in a hell of a shift,' said the City chief.
'When he came on at Wolves he looked very sharp and I thought he was a thorn in their side in this game with what he gives us with the ball. Some of his runs were excellent and also his distribution, but you see what you get when we haven't got the ball. He works back, he chases, he harries, he makes it very difficult for the opposition.
'We played him on the left side of that attacking three, which he has played in Italy for many games, and he is comfortable doing that. He contributed very well. He will be popular with the fans. It's the desire and the energy they take to, and when they see that fthey quickly become crowd favourites.'
Lafferty's failure to get his name on the scoresheet was more than compensated by three clinical strikes from his team mates.
'I thought the goals were top drawer,' said Adams. 'Bradley Johnson's chip, well it takes a quality player to do that. If you had Messi or Ronaldo doing things like that you would be watching it time after time. I was delighted for Lewis (Grabban) as well because he has been brilliant all pre-season and Alex's (Tettey) is almost the forgotten goal and his is a tremendous strike as well. He drilled it into the bottom corner, but it's almost upstaged by two fantastic finishes from his colleagues.
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'To be honest with you we didn't work on those chips. We look at the opposition in depth, but it was not something we had identified before the game. It is down to the players and the vision to see that maybe he was a little bit further forward.'
