Given Nathan Redmond’s departure to Southampton and Matt Jarvis’ unfortunate injury blow, Norwich go into the new season with a significant lack of wingers.
Step up the Murphy twins, who have looked in red-hot form since coming back for preseason, carrying on from their impressive loan spells at MK Dons and Coventry.
Speaking to the Pink’Un after their 3-0 friendly win over Peterborough, Alex Neil said:
“Their path to the first team, if you like, has always been blocked by the likes of say Nathan and then Matt but now they must see this is an opportunity. Now it is up to them to take it. It is not just going to be handed to them on a plate, they have to show they deserve to play.”
“Matt underwent an operation so he is going to be out for a length of time. It didn’t fully recover from last season, if we are being honest. He had three injections over the summer to settle it down and the response wasn’t great so they just had to fix it. Either it was surgery or we hoped it would heal itself because surgery is always the last option. He was out two or three months last time and it is not going to be too dissimilar”.
“Sergi obviously offers us a wide option but it also gives the Murphys a great chance now. Although we have played some others in wide areas in the past, if they are doing the business then the opportunity is there for them.”
Unlike his previous outings in a City shirt, Josh Murphy was moved into a more central position for the game at Posh, and it appears to already be working.
“That is where he got his goal and it was after I had changed the shape a touch because I didn’t think at that stage the team had grasped what I wanted – as much as the second team did – in terms of how we wanted to play.”
“By that I mean just in terms of squeezing high and stopping them playing. I don’t think we stopped them as well as the second group and you could see that perhaps in the second goal we scored, when we really got after them in their half. I felt we dominated that second game. The first one was a bit more to and fro. I would have liked to see us stop them more. It is not a criticism, more an observation at this early stage. It is my responsibility to make sure they do that as well as they can.”
