Roeder finds positives from show to forget

Glenn Roeder refused to criticise his players after they rode their luck on the way to a battling away point at struggling Barnsley.

City were never at their best against a side which had started the game bottom of the Championship, with Roeder grateful to goalkeeper David Marshall for two excellent early saves, one from the penalty spot.

But the City boss - who saw Antoine Sibierski denied by a world-class save by Heinz Muller in City's only really dangerous moment - insisted that another forgettable performance had its upside.

“It was good for us - and we haven't done this very often when we haven't played well - to grind out a result,” said Roeder. “Too often in the past when we haven't played well we have been beaten, so you always look for positives, and that would be it. We have fallen short of what we expect of our standards so far this year, but we have still taken a point away from home.”

The Canaries travel to Southampton tomorrow and Roeder admits they can't rely on another slice of away-day luck.

“Of course not, but they are human beings, they are not robots, they are not machines,” he said. “They have played incredibly well at times this year and only draw games ourselves. Look at the game against Birmingham. How lucky were they to go away with a point? Blackpool the same.

“You are not going to play well all the time, but it is a very good sign, that when you don't play well you still pick up a point and hopefully there will be times when we pick up three points as well.

“The boys are honest guys, they live in the real world and they know they haven't played as well as they can, but they would like to put that right down at Southampton with a better performance.”