DAVID CUFFLEY Dickson Etuhu moved one step closer to his goal target for the season by salvaging a point for Norwich City, but admitted: “I should have scored more by now."

DAVID CUFFLEY

Dickson Etuhu moved one step closer to his goal target for the season by salvaging a point for Norwich City, but admitted: “I should have scored more by now.”

Etuhu found the net for the second Coca-Cola Championship home game in a row in last night's 1-1 draw against Colchester United after ex-Canary Jamie Cureton had given the Essex men the lead.

But the 24-year-old midfielder would happily have swapped his goal for three points on a night when Peter Grant's side took an hour to get to grips with their newly-promoted visitors.

Etuhu's goal was another cracker from outside the box - almost as good as his winner against Cardiff in the previous home match - but he said: “I enjoyed the Cardiff goal more because we played better football and dominated them in the first half, so at the time it felt better.

“I'd swap my goal any day for the three points. But what's done is done and we have to move on.

“Colchester started off well in the first five or 10 minutes and it gave them a bit of confidence and put us on the back foot a bit, but they're not good enough to beat us and we should never ever have drawn that game.

“Nothing was going for us but we kept digging and got a point out of it, which is better than nothing.”

Etuhu admitted there was still a nervousness about City.

He said: “I think you can see that sometimes. I think we needed the fans tonight and they were a bit quiet and it can affect you sometimes. When you are at home, you want the fans behind you. It must be frustrating for them, knowing that we're a good team and we've got good players and sometimes we don't perform as well as we can. It was just one of those games.”

Etuhu said he had set himself a double-figure goal target for the season.

“I was hoping to get about 10 goals. I should have had about three more already,” he said.

Grant heaped praise on Etuhu after his effort spared City defeat on Colchester's first visit to Carrow Road for 47 years.

“His whole game since I came here has been excellent. His game play has been massive for us, he's getting from box to box, he's got that energy to do that, he's a good passer of the ball, now he's a threat in the opposition box,” said Grant.

“He's playing with the freedom that I'm trying to give the players. Now he gets to the edge of the box and he expects to score. Now he's got that confidence in himself. Every training session we've done he's been excellent and every game we've played he's been probably our best player.

“He's been fabulous since I came in with his effort and his commitment and his understanding of what's expected of him. I'm delighted for him. He scored a wonder goal against Cardiff, he's had shots in other games, his work ethic's been magnificent for the team. He's a big threat, a big, big player for us, he's not frightened to make mistakes. He tries to do the proper thing and that carries on from his training.

“He can be a Premiership player and hopefully that will be with Norwich City.”