Russell Martin and Marcel Franke’s dithering defensive incompetence will forever dominate my earliest memories of visiting The Den. 

One player’s status as a Norwich City legend was already secure but for the other, his firmly forgettable time in yellow and green was ruthlessly cut short as Stuart Webber and Daniel Farke sought to redesign their defensive options. 

The two players’ polarised legacies aside, my maiden trip to Millwall back in August 2017 was a truly miserable affair as City slumped to an eye-opening 4-0 defeat. 

Franke’s first-half ineptitude alarmingly epitomised Farke’s side’s soft centre as the visitors wilted in the cauldron-like atmosphere of The Den. 

Fast forward a few years, however, and that brittleness we have for so long associated with City has been banished, with the club’s latest trip to South Bermondsey bottling all the grit, determination and courage that so often defines successful Championship sides. 

Naturally, all the talk around City’s thrilling 3-2 triumph has centred around Gabriel Sara’s stunning Samba exploits, Onel Hernandez’s continued resurgence and Jacob Sorensen’s rock-solid return to David Wagner’s midfield. 

Wagner’s side have now put three past Millwall and four past both Preston and Coventry on the road, a tricky trio of fixtures they have expertly navigated with a fluency and flamboyance not seen during Dean Smith’s previous tenure. 

But at the heart of it all has been a long-overdue dose of defensive solidity, with Grant Hanley and Ben Gibson holding firm in the face of Millwall adversity to thwart the Lions’ hopes of a dramatic late leveller. 

As soon as Zian Flemming’s header hit the back of the net to cut the gap to 3-2 on Saturday afternoon, I think all 3,000 City fans behind the goal were fearing the worst. 

This is a side we have seen crumble in the heat of Championship battle on so many occasions over the last few years, wastefully surrendering leads when confronted by a raucous away atmosphere and visibly short of the steel to grind out battling – often ugly – second-tier triumphs. 

The Pink Un: Marcel Franke's performance at Millwall marked the beginning of the end of his time at Carrow RoadMarcel Franke's performance at Millwall marked the beginning of the end of his time at Carrow Road (Image: Focus Images)

So, while Wagner has had a revolutionary impact when it comes to injecting City’s attacking play with an additional sense of enterprise, energy and innovation, he deserves a similar level of credit for his role in tightening things up defensively and masterminding three memorable wins way from home. 

Even when City have failed to fire on all cylinders going forward under Wagner, they have largely been solid at the back and conceded just five goals in their last six games under the former Huddersfield chief. 

Drawing a concerning blank at Wigan did not result in defeat, before another clean sheet against Cardiff helped further reignite the club’s ever-accelerating play-off push. 

And despite conceding two – admittedly bad – goals against Millwall last weekend, that defensive spirit was stirringly epitomised by Hanley’s miraculous goal-line block to deny the hosts an equaliser in the very last minute. 

Of course, the ease with which Tom Bradshaw breezed between Hanley and Gibson for the Lions’ opener, and the sheer level of freedom Flemming was given in the City box for the second, still provides cause for concern. 

But this was a game previous Norwich sides would have easily ended up dropping points in, with events like Flemming’s towering header to pull one back so often functioning as a precursor for the inevitable fightback that follows. 

The following weeks will be what makes or breaks City’s season, with a daunting-looking April already giving me, and many fans, significant cause for concern. 

A home clash against Sheffield United kickstarts a run of games that sees us visit promotion-chasing Blackburn, Middlesbrough and West Brom, in and around a series of tricky Carrow Road clashes with relegation-threated Rotherham and Blackpool – and Martin’s Swansea. 

And speaking of Martin, it’s crucial the club’s current crop continue to erase memories of that 2017 horror-show and instead, channel the steely collective spirit that characterised our most recent trip to The Den.