Any Norwich City player who thinks he didn’t have a hand in Alex Neil’s sacking is kidding himself.

Captain Russell Martin was his usual full and frank self following the 2-2 draw with Blackburn at Carrow Road; the first City player to put his head above the parapet following Neil’s dismissal on Friday evening.

And he admitted there was not universal disappointment to the pre-match news.

“There are going to be different reactions in the dressing room; that’s football,” admitted Martin.

“There will be some that are happy with that, some that are disappointed, some that will carry on doing what they do regardless.

“Of course we take responsibility for what’s happened. If there are players that don’t, then they are kidding themselves.

“We had our fall-outs because we were honest with each other and as captain and manager, we didn’t always agree. But we were honest with each other and that’s how it should be in football.

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“I spoke to him on Friday and thanked him for everything he’s done for us as a group of lads, because you can’t doubt how hard he worked for us. And we’re responsible for him losing his job. That doesn’t sit easy with myself or the rest of the players.

“People have different opinions on him going, but that’s life and we have to move on from that now. I’m sure he’ll go on and have success somewhere else. We’ll always have him to thank for bouncing us back up the first time, and it’s done.”

Ultimately City’s task to dig in with 10 men for more than 70 minutes, and come from behind to earn a point off Blackburn, was all about self preservation for the Canaries squad.

“Like I said to the lads, it was about a response to show there’s nowhere to hide for us as players,” added Martin. “The manager has gone, there are no excuses, there’s no one else to blame and we’ve played our part in him going, which isn’t nice.

“And I think we showed that response. We dug in, full of hard work. Obviously going down to 10 men doesn’t help but we showed we were willing to fight for each other still and that’s going to be important from now until the summer, because everyone is playing for their future here under a new manager.”

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