David Cuffley Manager Glenn Roeder promised much better was to come from on-loan Kieran Gibbs after giving him his Norwich City debut last night.The 18-year-old from Arsenal played nearly an hour of the 1-1 draw against Hull on the left side of midfield after Roeder switched another 18-year-old, Chelsea's Ryan Bertrand, to left-back in order to rest Mo Camara.

David Cuffley

Manager Glenn Roeder promised much better was to come from on-loan Kieran Gibbs after giving him his Norwich City debut last night.

The 18-year-old from Arsenal played nearly an hour of the 1-1 draw against Hull on the left side of midfield after Roeder switched another 18-year-old, Chelsea's Ryan Bertrand, to left-back in order to rest Mo Camara.

Gibbs had a quiet night before making way for Matty Pattison, but Roeder insisted he had a very bright future.

He said: “We have a big enough squad now with some talented players that I can afford to rest players when I feel I need to. With another game coming up on Saturday at Leicester on what is the worst pitch in the Championship - it's going to be another heavy, grinding pitch to play on - it was an opportunity to give Mo a break and put in a young man who has got a big future.

“It was a big game for Kieran Gibbs to come into and I'm not disappointed with what he did. We starved him of the ball in the first half and that's not his fault.

“From what I've seen in training, I can see why Arsene Wenger thinks he's one of his top young talents. He's 18 years old and I think in a couple of years, you won't recognise him as the young player that we saw tonight. He's extremely talented.”

Roeder felt it was ironic that last night's result was regarded as a disappointment.

“Disappointed? Doesn't that just show what expectations are now at Norwich?” he said.

“You would have grabbed that point at the end of October, now we're disappointed against a good Hull team that we haven't taken all three.

“Yes, we are disappointed as a group. We can play better, you've seen us play better but it was the right result. We didn't deserve to lose the game, but I can't put my hand on my heart and say we deserved to win it either, and I've told the players that. They know that in any case.

“They're an honest group of lads. But they haven't half come a long way in a short space of time.

“We're 13 games unbeaten, we're on to the next one and, please God, it will be 14 after we leave Leicester on Saturday night.”

One concern ahead of the trip to the Walkers Stadium is right-back Matthew Bates, who left the field at the same time as Gibbs.

“He's jarred his knee. Matthew has had one or two knee problems in the last year that have kept him out of football. We hope it's not too serious but we'll assess it in the morning,” said Roeder.

Hull's second-half equaliser, through on-loan striker Fraizer Campbell, frustrated Roeder.

He said: “There were a lot of things that were disappointing about the goal. I have to say, first of all, Okocha's pass was supremely weighted. I can't remember the last time I waited to shake an opposing player's hand, but I did down the tunnel for Okocha. I saw him in France '98 when he was a young player and he's a stunning player. There's not many players that would make me play money to watch, but I'd pay to watch Okocha.

“The ball was played back to him and he played the striker through, but I still feel our two defenders should have done better in dealing with it. It was a scuffed shot and the ball unfortunately slid under David Marshall's body. But he made a world-class save that helped us secure the point, and again their 'keeper had to make a few good saves during the evening also, one in particular from Crofty that could have put us 2-0 up and it could have had a different outcome.”