Mario Vrancic is a special player who will deliver for Norwich City.
Canaries’ head coach Daniel Farke admits the Bosnian international midfielder is yet to stamp his mark on the Championship, since his summer move from the Bundesliga, but is in no doubt Vrancic can step up.
“Mario is struggling a little bit and he knows this but I think it is important to trust my players,” said Farke. “Mario is a special player because he can create those key moments. I speak a lot with him. He is not content himself with his performances.
“He knows the consistency is not there and he has to deliver.
“In the beginning he was struggling with the speed on the pitch but I see him in training and games now and he can handle that better.
“For his self-confidence it is important that he can feel the trust of the coach.
“We have been honest with him. We are totally convinced he can do this.
“When Tom Trybull, Alex Tettey, Alex Pritchard and Steven Naismith return it will not be so easy because there is a lot of competition in this area of the squad.”
MORE: Have your say on our Pinkun forum
That quartet miss out on Tuesday against Nottingham Forest, but Farke is looking for a marked improvement from Vrancic and the rest of the misfiring midfield who drew 1-1 at home to Barnsley.
“We brought so many technical players in but we were so poor in our passing quality. Our behaviour without the ball wasn’t good either.
“Our pressing wasn’t good,” he said. “We worked so much on our offensive movements to create more chances, especially at home.
“In general, when we have a game like Barnsley when we are poor in our passing and have to work hard to get it back someone like Mario is not the player who will go and tackle and be quick in the transition and win headers.
“But when I looked at the data he was the player who covered the most distance.
“When we dominate games he is full of technical ability and he can play the finishing passes – I think back to the pass for the goal against QPR or his performance at Brentford.
“We have a German guy here in England at Arsenal, Mesut Ozil, and sometimes he is praised for being a genius and when Arsenal lose the ball or lose a game it is down to him because he is too soft or too poor with his body language.
“Mario is a special player too.”
• For the latest Norwich City news and opinion follow Group Football Editor Paddy Davitt on the following channels…
Paddy Davitt on Twitter @paddyjdavitt
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here