Norwich City showing green shoots under Johannes Hoff Thorup

It was always going to be a tough test against newly-relegated Sheffield United, who were physical, streetwise and cynical, and while some fans will be disappointed with a draw, it was undoubtedly a fair result from a game that ebbed and flowed, but in which neither side ever gained total dominance.

Shane Duffy (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd)

After looking suspect at the back against Blackburn, City looked much more composed against the Blades, despite the towering presence of Keifer Moore and Harry Souttar at set-pieces, and while I was justifiably critical of Shane Duffy’s previous performance, he was excellent last week.

However, for me City’s outstanding player against United was his centre back partner Callum Doyle, whose passing was once again exceptional, but who also proved that he could be just as physical as his opponents, not least in the crunching challenge near the dugouts that upset Chris Wilder, who clearly felt that it was fine for his players to dish out the physical stuff but not to receive it.

Ironically, as with the previous week’s late equaliser, United’s goal came directly from the breakdown of a City attack when Amankwah Forson’s attempted pass to Ben Chrisene was overhit and left the full-back stranded out of position.

However, this is all part of the learning process, and it was interesting to hear Thorup talk after the game about players needing to understand when to take risks and when to be more conservative.

We will inevitably see this sort of thing happen from time to time, because Thorup wants his teams to play with pace, but there is no doubt that when moves come together the crowd gets into the game, as we saw, and heard, last Saturday with the fans really getting behind City’s late surge.

What is also noticeable is that whereas City tended to tire in the final 20 minutes of games last season, they look much fitter this year, and undoubtedly finished last week’s game looking the stronger of the two teams.

Thorup was also able to unveil another new signing in Ante Crnac, who was thrown in after a couple of days with the squad and unsurprisingly struggled to adjust to the pace of Championship football, but nevertheless showed some neat footwork, not least his early drag back and cross which nearly resulted in a goal from City’s first real attack.

Tuesday night’s Carabao Cup outing against a pretty much full-strength Crystal Palace line-up allowed some of the fringe players to get some minutes and to make a case to Thorup, with Onel Hernandez and Kellen Fisher coming out with the most credit, but the game also emphasised why successive managers have relied on Kenny McLean with City’s performance improving markedly after his arrival.

Despite the scoreline, there were positives to take as City’s quick passing movements beat the Palace press on several occasions, but a back four with three changes from Saturday was always going to find it tough against a Premier League forward line, and so it proved, not helpful by some woeful goalkeeping.

We also saw another debutant, in the form of Oscar Schwartau, the highly rated Danish teenager who arrived at the weekend and clearly fits the bill of young players who can contribute now but also have great development potential that have been the key focus of City’s transfer activity this summer.

Another positive on Tuesday was the travelling support. Selhurst Park is awkward to get to, with probably the worst away section in the Premier League, so for nearly 2,000 to be there for a minor cup competition suggests that the fans are very much on this journey with Thorup and his players and it is surely only a matter of time before that elusive first win arrives.