Norwich boss Manning impressed by Diallo debut

Papa Amadou Diallo has won seven caps for Senegal

Norwich boss Liam Manning was delighted with new signing Papa Amadou Diallo after the Senegal winger made an eyecatching debut in their Carabao Cup win at Watford.

The 21-year-old joined the Canaries from Metz for £4.3m last month and was given his first start at Vicarage Road, along with goalkeeper Dan Grimshaw.

Diallo made an immediate impact by providing the assist for Josh Sargent's opener in a 2-1 victory - but did not shirk defensive duties either.

"I wasn't sure he understood me at half-time," joked Manning.

"He just naturally pits people on the back foot because of how he moves, how he carries the ball, you don't know whether he's going to go inside, outside, he's quite languid how he does it.

"But I was as much pleased with a recovery tackle that he made - we need everybody wanting to attack but at the same time everybody willing to defend for the team.

"I've challenged our front players to be the best defenders and I want our defenders at times to be the best attackers - it's one of those where everybody is all in on everything we do, with the ball or without the ball."

The inclusion of Diallo was one of a number of changes made by Manning - but he chose to retain captain Sargent, and was rewarded with another goal by the US international, who has been linked with a move away from Carrow Road.

"I thought he was our stand-out player by a long shot at the weekend and in the seven, eight weeks I've worked with him now, he's really shown some leadership qualities to me," Manning told BBC Radio Norfolk.

"He's really stepped up, he's a role model for everything we want, as a voice in the changing room, the way he talks is really good.

"He loves playing football, he's a top pro and we've seen again that he's a top player as well."

Goalkeeper Grimshaw, who was signed from Plymouth Argyle in June, came in for Vladan Kovacevic and said lessons had been learned from Saturday's league defeat by Millwall.

"It was really good to get out there and play in front of the fans for the first time. I'll look for more opportunities now," he said.

"I was frustrated with the (Watford) goal, I could have done better with it, but it's part of the game and I'll watch it back and try and learn."