Cometh the hour … - Last minute

Simon Smith showed he’s ready, willing and extremely able during Norwich’s win at Bristol last weekend. The former Rangers defender, 25, said:

“You’re always hoping to pick points up away from home and so three points is a huge result for us especially coming into a two week break.

The tidy full back put in a surprise performance having originally been named as a substitute. But team mate Adam Drury suffered a hamstring injury in the pre-match warm-up and so he started while 19 year old Luke Daley shrugged off his travelling togs to take Smith’s place on the bench.

Smith explained:

“I saw Adam go down in the warm-up and I didn't know if he was playing or not, so I joined in and when we came back in from the warm-up the manager said 'You're playing'. So it was pretty short notice. I knew I had a chance of starting so I got the mental side of my game right before I went out. I was pretty much prepared for it.

“I played 90 minutes for the reserves during the week. I was stiff after that - that's probably the first 90 minutes I'd played in about four or five months - so that probably helped me out. It was just good to get 80 minutes under my belt in a proper match.

“I've waited a few months for it to come so it was something I really enjoyed. The result helps that and the boys helped me. Simon Lappin in front of me did a lot of work to help me out, and the back four kept a clean sheet so it was a real team effort.”

Smith also revealed Lambert’s attitude to away games and said the manager told them to:

“Play the way you do at home. We come to win football matches and that’s what we did today.”