Norwich City's development coach Paul Wilkinson is backing the likes of Josh and Jacob Murphy to press their first team claims next season after Jacob's brace salvaged a 2-2 draw in Wednesday's league finale against Chelsea's Under-21s.

Josh was a notable absentee from the squad, along with all of Alex Neil's senior players, ahead of next week's Championship play-off final against Middlesbrough but his twin turned in an impressive display capped by a superb opening goal.

Tammy Abraham and Charly Musonda rifled the Blues in front before Murphy replied prior to the interval and then equalised with a coolly-taken finish just seconds after Chelsea's Jake Clarke-Salter had been dismissed for a second yellow.

'Jacob and Josh have both been superb for us this season,' said Wilkinson. 'They went out on loan and it's a different experience with managers, coaches and clubs in general. It just gives them that different outlook on football and to be fair to the pair of them they have grasped it, come back, and improved. That is all you can ask for from the loan system.

'The keeper had made three great saves from Jacob before his first goal, so he was a touch unlucky. I told him at half-time if you keep going, keep doing the right things and putting it on target, you get your rewards and it was a tremendous finish.'

Wilkinson was delighted to finish on a positive note and secure a top seven finish in the elite tier against a Chelsea side featuring Isaiah Brown, who made an appearance for Jose Mourinho's champions in Monday's 3-0 Premier League defeat at West Brom.

'You know you are up against terrific players and even when they went down to 10 they had a go at us,' he said. 'We did the same. We missed two or three and on another day we slot them away.

'Our aim first and foremost was to stay in the league. Then we wanted to improve and finish as high as possible. It is a great achievement for the boys. It was important we tried to get ourselves on a bit of a winning streak and we have lost maybe one or two out of the last 15 or 16 games.'

• Republic of Ireland youth international Kyle McFadden used his personal Twitter account to announce Wednesday's draw was his final game for the club. McFadden's current deal is due to expire in the summer.