David Cuffley New father Adam Drury was given the VIP treatment to ensure he played on Saturday - having endured a remarkable 24 hours in his life. Wife Helen gave birth to the couple's second child, daughter Isla, on Friday night at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, before hubby was whisked off on Delia Smith's plane to Carlisle at 11am the following day.

David Cuffley

New father Adam Drury was given the VIP treatment to ensure he played on Saturday - having endured a remarkable 24 hours in his life.

Wife Helen gave birth to the couple's second child, daughter Isla, on Friday night at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, before hubby was whisked off on Delia Smith's plane to Carlisle at 11am the following day.

Drury walked into the dressing room 75 minutes before kick-off and went on to help City to a valuable victory.

"It's been a little bit hectic," admitted Drury. "I told my wife when she came round. She was a bit sleepy and I said, 'I'm going off to Carlisle now'.

"I didn't travel up with the lads so I didn't get home until early hours of the morning. Then I got a phone call when I turned my phone on saying there would be a flight available to me to fly up here at 11am this morning.

"I landed and got in the dressing room about a quarter to two and just got changed and came out and played and now hopefully I can get on that plane back because it only takes about 50 minutes so it's a bit easier than getting on the bus."

Drury - who also has a three-year-old son Ethan - admitted he was on his best behaviour with the club's owners on board.

"I kept myself to myself," he laughed. "It was fantastic for them to do that for me. Obviously they were coming up themselves and for me to jump on the plane with them has been brilliant to allow me to play."

Drury could have wetted the baby's head with a rare goal - he's scored just three times in 297 City appearances - but couldn't quite make a decent connection.

"I got a little bit over-excited," he admitted. "I don't really know what I was doing. I'm not used to being that far up the pitch. It's all about the result, that's the main thing.

"We always knew it was going to be difficult coming here and in the league we are in you have got to come to places like this and get results and we did that today.

"I think we made it a little bit hard for ourselves at the end. We had a good few chances and created some great openings, but didn't get the second goal to kill the game off, but we weathered the storm and thankfully got the result."

Drury is City's longest-serving player and knows all about City's dismal away record in recent years. But a second away success in the league this season suggests times are changing.

"Away from home over the last couple of years we haven't been great and it's been performances like this, where we haven't been able to grind out results, that make it nice to come here and grind it out.

"It's not always going to be pretty at times, but sometimes it is just about the result."

Victory took City into the top six - and Drury is keen to stay there.

"You want to be up and around it, you don't want big gaps opening up and be chasing people all the time," he said. "It's a big thing to be up and around it and it gives us a great chance now to keep going as we are throughout the season.

"That's where we wanted to be at the start of the season and it's no different now. We wanted to be up amongst it and that's where we have got ourselves. The gaffer has come in and set things out how he wants them and at the minute they're going well - we have to keep that going."