Yanic Wildschut admitted Norwich City could feel real satisfaction at claiming victory from a proper Championship test at Bramall Lane.
Having meekly surrendered at Millwall the last time City were on the road, conceding four goals in successive away games, there was much to admire in Norwich’s resolve at the Blades.
“It was a difficult game,” said Wildschut. “We knew it would be before we came here and we said it at half time, the feeling when you get when you come here and win – especially after four hours on the coach – meant everyone was really happy and worked really hard. So we’ve got the three points, and that was the most important thing.
“It was a hard game to play in – but the last 10 minutes were even harder (after being substituted) when I didn’t have any influence and I was on the bench. I was sighing and everyone was going in front of me and yelling.
“I was happy to finally play again and it was a hard game, like a proper Championship game, but the three points was all that mattered and we got them.
“It’s not like we didn’t work on defending before, but of course after conceding so many goals you have to do something, and it’s worked because we’ve got three clean sheets now.
“Training has been really good. We’ve been a bit unlucky and at the beginning of the season you’ve got new players. But now you see what you can build on when you get clean sheets and the feeling. Everyone knows if we can get a clean sheet, we’ve got the quality to score at the other end.
“It has been a good week. We should’ve won on Tuesday (against Burton), but yeah – we got seven points in the week, so this is good and hopefully we can build on it.
“It’s one of the toughest leagues in the world and we will get a lot of games like this one. We’ve shown we can do it, but it’s only one game. Now we have to show we can do it on a weekly basis and as long as we have the defending bit right, then we can just do our attacking.”
Returning to the starting line-up for the first time in a month, Wildschut added: “I have to say it was a bit hard in the beginning because the speed of the game was so quick. But I got the goal and hopefully it’s enough to be involved more in the next weeks.”
• For the latest Norwich City news and opinion follow Michael Bailey on Twitter @michaeljbailey, Facebook @mbjourno and Instagram @mrmichaeljbailey
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