Portuguese striker Nelson Oliveira made his claim for a first-team starting spot with an influential performance as Norwich City Under-23s thrashed Barnet.

The £5m signing scored the spectacular long-range fourth goal in a 5-0 victory which sealed progression from Southern Group F of the Checkatrade Trophy.

The 25-year-old played 84 minutes, also setting up Josh Murphy for one of his three goals and Sergi Canos for his strike.

'He's capable of that,' City U23s coach Dmitri Halajko said of Oliveira's 25-yard strike, which went in off the underside of the crossbar.

'He's trained with us a couple of times and I've seen him train with the first team quite a few times and his finishing off both feet is of a real high level and he showed that.

'He's a forward player and to score a goal like that and to set up a few is what he's going to want to show the first-team manager and to get those valuable minutes under his belt so hopefully it got him nearer to where he wants to be.'

City boss Alex Neil and his coaching team were watching from the stand and the Scot was in the dressing room to make sure City finished the job.

That followed Murphy's opener in first-half stoppage time, following a harsh red card for Barnet defender Bondz N'Gala in the 33rd minute.

'Not stern, he's always constructive,' Halajko said of Neil's words at the break.

'There were a few people he wanted to get a bit more out of, a few people that he patted on the back. So always constructive, always trying to push us forward in the second half.'