Daniel Farke is as frustrated as any Norwich City fan – but insists faith in youth is the only way forward at Carrow Road.

The Canaries do not have the financial muscle to compete with the Championship’s biggest spenders – which means the likes of James Maddison and Josh Murphy must step up.

“I am totally convinced trusting our young lads is the way for Norwich City,” said Farke. “We have an extraordinary situation with James Maddison.

“He is pretty good on a consistent basis, but that is not normal for a young player. It is normally like a rollercoaster. Otherwise you have to buy a player for £15m and you say, ‘Please, you must now deliver.’

“Some clubs in this league are doing this. I don’t want to criticise it. It is a way to win games. If you want to win the league maybe you have to go out and buy such players. We chose another way and it is totally the right way that will bring benefits in the medium to long term.

“Right now, maybe it is hard that in the short term we don’t earn wins each and every game. We don’t like that. We have to be realistic. We are not in a dreamland.”

Murphy is City’s seven-goal top scorer, but the talented youngster’s inconsistency continues to frustrate many supporters.

“We want to help a player like Josh Murphy,” said Farke. “Last season he played, he missed out, he wasn’t in the squad. This season with injuries to so many players, like Alex Pritchard, Matt Jarvis, Steven Naismith, he has got his chance. On the other hand, we also want to develop Josh. We speak to him all the time. He knows there are parts of his game he must improve, like the one versus one duels or being awake in the defence behaviour.

“He is full of ability. Right now, if he was on a really high consistent level he would not play for Norwich City. At his age, Manchester City or Liverpool would buy him for £25m. He is not on this level but we will work with him to try and bring him on that level. It is not a case if he plays and he is not at this level I must say to him, ‘Right, you don’t play for the next four weeks and you must go away and train.’

“Our way is something I am convinced is the right way. Rather than a rollercoaster I would hope it can be more like waves.”