Daniel Farke is aiming to emulate Nigel Worthington’s Canaries’ title success, but after meeting the Northern Irishman he knows why Norwich City is a special club.

Worthington’s 2003/04 squad clinched promotion to the Premier League by lifting the old First Division title.

City went into the international break four points clear at the top of the Championship, with eight league games left.

Worthington was back at Colney recently, and his visit to the training ground proved a timely reminder to the head coach what his players are striving to achieve.

“It was brilliant.

“Nigel is a Norwich legend and what he did, especially in the promotion year, was unreal,” said Farke. “To win the title with 94 points, I know how huge this workload is to perform on that level so I can only praise him.

“He is such a down to earth, modest guy, a gentleman, and it was nice to speak to him.

“We are tempted to always live in the present, and maybe we have a new philosophy and we have had some success, which is fair, but it is important to pay attention to the history and our traditions.

MORE: Ben Godfrey is a man in demand“This club is bigger than any individual, whether it is the sporting director, head coach or players. It is important to value this and when you see a legend with a deep connection to the club then Nigel deserves respect for this.

“Don’t forget where you come from or your history.

“It is good for my players to see an impressive guy who underlines what an honour it is to wear this yellow shirt or, for me, to be in a position to coach this team.”

Worthington’s title-winning triumph was forged on defensive steel, conceding just 39 goals in their 46 league games. Farke’s men have had to dig deep of late to scrap for points, particularly at relegation-threatened Millwall and Rotherham prior to the break.

“We have produced more entertaining football and nice combinations but you have to win the battles and show a strong mentality,” he said. “At Rotherham in the first minutes we had to handle a situation when all the long balls were thrown into our box.

“We play with many young players and Teemu (Pukki), Onel (Hernandez) and Emi (Buendia) are not the tallest guys. When you find yourself in difficult situations this is when the quality and the character really comes through.”