Neil Adams - John Ruddy is back to his best at Norwich City
Norwich City keeper John Ruddy has kept clean sheets in the Championship wins over Wigan and Huddersfield. Picture by Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd - Credit: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd
John Ruddy is back to his best, insists Norwich City boss Neil Adams.
The 28-year-old was heavily criticised during a poor run of Championship results for the Canaries but the City number one has impressed in consecutive league wins against Wigan and Huddersfield.
Ruddy produced a string of excellent stops against the Terriers at Carrow Road to secure a second clean sheet on the spin.
'John is an England international who was probably just low on confidence because of the goals we had conceded, whether they were his fault or not,' said Adams. 'He made key saves at Wigan and against Huddersfield he was back to his best. As much as the focus was on the goals we scored, the fact we have had two clean sheets is great for John and the lads at the back. I couldn't see Huddersfield opening us up but John had to make a couple of saves, one was definitely going in the top corner late on, and that just shows you what confidence is all about.'
City's backline has had some added protection from a solid midfield unit as Adams plots a new course to get Norwich firmly back in the promotion race.
'The last two games we have set up slightly differently and taken six points and I think we have learned some lessons,' he said. 'We didn't want to be chasing games, particularly at Carrow Road, because we have almost given teams a head start. If we had been more solid and structured we could have taken a few more points and that is why we had lost touch, but it's game on again.
'Picking up away results is fine provided we back that up at home so it was important just to remind people what we are capable of.
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'Yes, it was against 10 men but you have to go and do it and we've seen how frustrating that scenario can be at times but we got an emphatic win and looked like we could score at will.'