'Lucky' Krul praises City fans

The Dutch international recently made his 150^th appearance for City, and was interviewed by ex-Canary Darren Eadie for official club channels to mark the achievement.

He highlighted the motivation provided by supporters during those games, saying: "To have the fans backing you every Saturday at Carrow Road, it’s a special place to be. That feeling of walking out and hearing ‘On The Ball City’ and 28,000 going mad, it’s what you do it for.

"I’ve always been lucky. At Newcastle I had a great relationship with the fans and here, especially with the Barclay, you’re that close, obviously we’ve had some amazing moments and you really feel that appreciation with this club.

"You always say you want the fans behind you, and I’ve literally got them behind me. I don’t think you should ever lose that feeling, when there’s a full stadium and you make a match-winning save or a last-minute worldie to get the win."

Krul’s appreciation for the Carrow Road atmosphere was boosted by the Covid-19 pandemic, rules at the height of which meaning fans couldn’t attend matches in person. "It was the worst time," the 34-year-old said of the period spent behind closed doors.

"It’s such a shame, because you do it to play in front of a crowd. They could be the 12^th man and push you through. Especially (during 2019-20) in those last 10 games, we needed them so badly and they weren’t there.

"Even in the Championship, we just needed to get the job done and get the fans back as quickly as possible."

The Norwich number one has enjoyed seeing supporters again during this campaign, even if on-pitch matters haven’t gone his way. "Even when we lost 3-0 to Newcastle, I walked out to my car and there were 100 people waiting there who still give you that support, that love," he said.

"The appreciation and the love makes you want to train even harder and get the glory days and the results for them to give them something back."