Scoring more goals is a clear target for Norwich City but head coach Daniel Farke feels his depleted attacking options provide significant mitigation.

The Canaries may have kept four successive clean sheets in the league for this first time in over 16 years but kept just one of their 15 shots on target in Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Bristol City.

The Carrow Road stalemate did extend City’s unbeaten streak to five matches but Farke knows a lack of accuracy has cost points – ahead of trips to Middlesbrough and Reading this week.

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“I just have compliments for the lads,” said the German coach. “All in all right now we have nine games and five clean sheets, four in a row, and our defending is brilliant now. It’s always a base, especially after such a difficult beginning, to improve. Especially in the short term it’s really good and is always a base for success.

“Right now we have to do without some really important players in our offence, like Nelson Oliveira and Alex Pritchard, James Maddison we had to do without for six days. So we know when all the offensive guys are there we are perhaps a little bit stronger in this area of the pitch.

“But all in all this was not bad too, we created chances and we just didn’t have the quality to finish one of these situations and we have to live with this. When we calm down we will see there has been a really big improvement in our game and there is a good base for the next week.

“We see this quality of defending in many topics of the game, we know we just have to work on the finishing situations. It would have been a totally deserved win.”

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The clean sheet was a fourth on the bounce for 21-year-old keeper Angus Gunn, who made sure of another shut-out with a fine save from Jamie Paterson midway through the second half.

“In the last games he did not have too many saves or actions to make and you always have to be concentrated, a little bit like for a really big club who is at the top of the table, when the keeper can have 70 or 80 minutes without much action,” Farke added.

“There was a deflected shot and he had to be there with his hands and he was. He has shown he has really grown and really good calmness and concentration.

“I think this is extraordinary, especially for such a young guy, so we are really content.”

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