Norwich City number one Tim Krul strikes fear into Championship strikers for Daniel Farke.

The Dutch international kept a clean sheet on his return from a lengthy injury lay off in the 1-0 win over Barnsley.

Krul’s shut out extended an impressive run at club level which now stands at 475 minutes since he last conceded a goal.

For Farke it is not just the numbers but Krul’s presence that lifts his Canaries’ team mates and sends a shiver down rivals.

“He is an unbelievably important piece of our success and he proved it with a good performance,” said Farke. “Even if you are not making 10 world class saves the clean sheet says it all. It is no coincidence we keep a clean sheet.

"When you know as a team the best keeper in the league is in goal with his experience it helps. It gives confidence and trust to the rest of the defence.

"Even maybe the opponent, when they know they come up against a keeper who is so good, who saves more or less every penalty he faces, it gets into their heads.

“It was a difficult game for Tim because he was not out for just one or two weeks. It was a proper amount of time and he was not in his rhythm. Even if he was not 100pc sure in his own mind he was ready for 90 minutes his presence was top class.”

Krul’s influence in the dressing room matches his work on the park for Norwich.

That was underlined with a half-time pep talk for teenage back up Dan Barden in last week's home draw against QPR, when he was thrust into the spotlight after Michael McGovern's hamstring injury.

“Tim and Michael were both helping Daniel to give him support. Our togetherness is outstanding,” said Farke. “It has carried us through these last weeks.

"Let’s be honest, we had more or less 10 games without our number one. We had major injuries to key players and without this spirit we could not be in a top class position.

“Now Micky is injured for a few months. He is very long in this business so he knows there are setbacks.

"But he so professional I know he will try to come back sooner than expected. He had to wait for so long for his chance but he took it brilliantly, if you judge it over the whole period of games. We all feel for him.”