Chris Lakey City boss Paul Lambert argued that the point taken from Saturday's goalless draw against Walsall could still prove to be a vital one come May. The Canaries are already 10 points behind leading pair Charlton and Leeds in League One after just six matches, ground they have to make up if they are to challenge for an immediate return to the Championship.

Chris Lakey

City boss Paul Lambert argued that the point taken from Saturday's goalless draw against Walsall could still prove to be a vital one come May.

The Canaries are already 10 points behind leading pair Charlton and Leeds in League One after just six matches, ground they have to make up if they are to challenge for an immediate return to the Championship.

But Lambert said he was well pleased with seven points from his first three league games in charge, even though City missed the opportunity to record three wins in a row for the first time in more than 18 months.

He said: “I'm a great believer that if you're not going to win it, and it's not going to be your given day, make sure you don't lose it. I think that point at the end of the season might be a big, big point. You just don't know.

“I think a draw was probably fair. We never did enough to win it. But we certainly didn't deserve to lose it.

“It was more dogged than spectacular. If you'd said to me three weeks ago when we came in you'd have seven points out of nine, you'd have taken it.

“The club was dead on its feet a few weeks ago and needed to have a little bit of a run at it, which we've done.”

Lambert did not complain about Michael Nelson's second-half goal being disallowed by referee Russell Booth, who sent him to the stands at Yeovil last month when he was still Colchester boss.

“I never really saw it. There must have been an infringement at the beginning before it reached Michael Nelson. I don't think the foul was against Michael,” he said.

“It's happened, we never got it, so you move on to the next one.

“If you go down that road you'd say why wasn't it a penalty when Cody McDonald had his jersey pulled? It was blatant. The linesman saw that, the referee must have seen it.

“I don't think you can defend the indefensible. I think that's a stonewaller.

“Everybody else saw it, but they make the decisions.”

Lambert praised goalkeeper Fraser Forster, making his home debut and keeping his second clean sheet in a row after arriving on loan from Newcastle - though he was given precious little to do by Walsall.

“He's going to have a massive career, Fraser,” said Lambert. “I think he's going to be a big, big plus for Newcastle.

“As I said before, he wasn't too far away from being involved in their first team. He's got the stature for the game, he's got the presence for it and I think he's going to have a terrific career.”