In the thick of all the speculation that accompanies football transfer windows, it's fair to say Timm Klose didn't figure that often.

City's pursuit of Steven Naismith was the one that occupied most minds, leaving boss Alex Neil to quietly invest an estimated £7.6m in the Swiss international central defender.

His debut came in a home defeat by Spurs on February 2 and it would be another seven games before he would experience victory in the yellow and green.

Klose has clearly grown on City's fans, who voted him the key player for this weekend's crunch game against fellow strugglers Newcastle United at Carrow Road.

Klose, who finished ahead of Robbie Brady and Patrick Bamford in voting at www.pinkun.com, is calm, cultured, a player with that touch of class.

He's juust what a team in Norwich's position needed. A defence that was unstable has been steadied, with round pegs in round holes – and Klose has become the first player on the manager's team-sheet.

The 27-year-old has been nominated for the PFA Fan's Player of the Month Award for March, although he is up against some stiff competition from 11 others, including Tottenham and England pair Harry Kane and Dele Alli and Leicester's Riyad Mahrez.

There's little doubt who will get City fans' vote, but while Klose is Saturday's key man, perhaps the truth is that no one will want it to come down to one man.

As website poster Irish Canary wrote: 'The simple answer to this one is... all 11 players on the field are vitally important from here on in. We simply can't afford to carry any passengers. I'm also hopeful that the fortnight's rest will have allowed Naismith to get fully fit. I feel he will have an important part to play.'