A reality check for the Canaries

Successive home games against Derby County and Preston North End were supposed to be Norwich City's big opportunity to gatecrash the top six. It ended up being a typical Championship reality check.

With Josh Sargent fit and firing, Borja Sainz returning from a six-game ban, Marcelino Nunez recovered from injury and Czech winger Matej Jurasek finally cleared to make his debut, the stars appeared to be aligning for boss Johannes Hoff Thorup.

However, the resolute defences of Derby and Preston stifled the usually prolific Canaries.

Norwich are the only other team in the Championship aside from leaders Leeds United to have registered 50 league goals this season. You wouldn't have thought so on the evidence of these shot-shy displays.

A late penalty allowed Derby to clinch a point in a 1-1 draw. Preston scored early and that proved enough to take the win.

One point from a possible six marks a massive missed opportunity for City.

Thorup was philosophical in defeat on Tuesday night. It's only recently that he's openly entertained a top-six finish as being within reach in his first season in English football. He's often pointed to the steep learning curve that his squad is on.

One of his tasks was to reduce the average age of the team. The Norwich starting line-up against Preston featured just two players over the age of 24.

At their entertaining best, Norwich look capable of nicking one of the two remaining play-off spots that are realistically up for grabs. These last two matches have shown that cracking some Canary consistency remains Thorup's biggest challenge