Norwich's combative midfielder Darel Russell insists the Canaries' are now upwardly mobile after moving out of the Championship basement.

Norwich's combative midfielder Darel Russell insists the Canaries' are now upwardly mobile after moving out of the Championship basement.

City leapfrogged QPR with a 2-1 win over Plymouth on Tuesday and Russell admitted there was a sense of relief after propping up the division for the previous five weeks.

“It's brilliant,” he said. “We missed out on the opportunity to get off the bottom at the weekend and we owed Plymouth one. Hopefully we can push ourselves even further up. We want to stay off the bottom now and get another positive result against Sheffield United. If a few other results go our way as well I think we could push up a good few places. It's about looking forward not backwards.”

Russell is suspended for United's Carrow Road visit this weekend after picking up his sixth booking of the campaign against the Pilgrims.

The 27-year-old felt the Canaries had made hard work of despatching Paul Sturrock's side before Darren Huckerby's late penalty sealed the win.

“We started off well and kind of lost our way,” he said. “That made it a little bit difficult for ourselves but the second goal gave us a cushion. Hucks' is a big game player and I don't think he would have felt the pressure too much. It was a great finish from him and in the end we needed it because I felt we should have won the game 2-0.

“We were looking for a clean sheet and didn't get it but a win is a win. We didn't play brilliantly but got the result and that is the main thing.”

Russell paid tribute to Man City's razor sharp youngster Ched Evans after the teenager's nerveless opener on his full league debut.

“It was a great finish from the lad,” he said. “To have a debut like that is good. I'm sure he enjoyed it and hopefully he can put another one away if he gets the chance on Saturday to help us build on this result.”