Daniel Farke would not put it past Norwich City’s Championship top gun Teemu Pukki finishing the season with a goal burst after reaping the benefits of a little breather.

Pukki ended a four-game dry spell with a brace in the 4-0 Championship win over QPR that took his tally for the league season to 26 goals.

The newly-crowned Championship player-of-the-season looked fit and fresh at Carrow Road last weekend, after what Farke revealed had been a specially tailored build up at Colney.

“To be honest, we calmed his load down at the beginning of the week because we got the feeling he needed some time to recover, and you could see what he is capable of when he is fully recreated,” he said.

“It was good for Teemu to have him for a full week where we could just train. He was brilliant, not only because of his goals, but I remember a scene when he sprinted back 80 yards into the right full back position. That says a lot about his attitude. His finishes were calm, concentrated and focused. He is a great lad.

“It was a balanced, all round performance.

“The clean sheet was also important, and a big topic at half-time. We were so greedy. It is difficult to compare with a massive win at Leeds or a hard fought win at Middlesbrough but there was some nice football, especially the first half was amazing.

“We created so many chances, were 3-0 up and should have been two or three more than that. But we have to recover quickly and smartly to prepare for Reading.”

Pukki was replaced late on, after sealing an eighth consecutive league win, and Farke would have made earlier changes but for Emi Buendia’s red card.

The Argentine ace starts the first of a three-match ban on Wednesday against the Royals.

“I was waiting a bit for the fourth goal to give some lads a well deserved rest,” he said. “I was pretty close to doing that when we got the red card.

“I did want to make changes, to be honest, but I had to change my plans because it was important to stay solid for the next few minutes after the red card and see how the game developed. It was the right decision in the end.

“The red card did not help in this topic. If we had played further on with 11 I would have changed it earlier and could have given a bit more rest to some of the players.

“If you ask me would I have taken 22 points, or something, from eight league games then I would say, ‘No, I want to win each game,’ and have this attitude, but when you judge it back what we have done in recent months it is outstanding.

“Not just the consistency in results but the ability to handle all different tasks. The QPR game was completely different to Middlesbrough or Rotherham. You got the feeling we always have the answer at the moment and we find a solution.”