Winger Lee Croft today revealed the Norwich City players are ready to play through the pain barrier to pull the Canaries away from the relegation zone.

Winger Lee Croft today revealed the Norwich City players are ready to play through the pain barrier to pull the Canaries away from the relegation zone.

The 21-year-old was left out of the side that drew 1-1 with Coventry due to a calf strain but shrugged off the injury to play a key role in Tuesday night's memorable win against Luton Town.

Manager Peter Grant said earlier in the week that some of his stars have had to be pushed back into action earlier than he would have liked but it is a situation that does not worry Croft.

“Everyone has just got to pull together,” said the former Manchester City man. “Look at Adam Drury the other day. Anyone else would have come off but he showed great spirit and he didn't want to come off and he played through.

“His back is sore but I'm sure he'll be giving it everything like he did the other night. He'll be giving it everything to get back for Barnsley.”

Drury's injury came as a result of jumping over the advertising hoardings and jarring his back at Kenilworth Road in an incident reminiscent of how Luke Chadwick gashed his knee on his debut against Ipswich Town back in November.

Croft believes that perhaps it is time the footballing authorities looked at the positioning of these hoardings.

“To be fair I went into one against Coventry,” he said. “They do seem to be a bit dodgy especially if you are running full whack like Adam was the other day and you are trying to get a cross in. They do seem a bit dangerous.

“You've just got to jump over them and hope there isn't a big fall like there was the other night.”

Croft has not enjoyed his fair share of luck in front of goal recently after hitting the woodwork on a number of occasions with his last goal coming in the 5-1 win against Barnsley back in August.

But the England Under-21 international insisted that as long as the Canaries are winning he does not mind where the goals come from.

“Obviously I've been disappointed to have hit the woodwork quite a few times recently. As long as the team is winning then we're all happy.”

One man who has had no trouble finding the net since he broke into the first team is Chris Martin, who added to his burgeoning reputation with a classy strike against Luton.

And Croft believes the emergence of the 18-year-old has added a new dimension to City when they go forward.

“He's doing really well. He's a good footballer. He's intelligent and he's obviously a goalscorer.

“He's really good at linking up the play which perhaps we have lacked in the past. I'm sure he's got a great future.”