Norwich City academy: Under-21s' Uriah Djedje analysed

Starved of football for months and hungry for scraps to feed on, supporters and pundits alike take any hints or clues they're offered and run with them until they mean something significant.

Every squad inclusion feels like an unconditional endorsement, every tactical experiment a comprehensive indicator of what's to come. It's only natural in the heightened mundanity of friendlies, while everyone waits for the priceless return of competitive action.

That was particularly true a few months ago, when Norwich City's new era begun with Johannes Hoff Thorup's first warm-up campaign. The nuances of his football system were analysed to the nines, while his every word was hung upon in a series of impressive media appearances.

There was also a distinct focus on the youth players given a chance to impress, with Thorup known to have been appointed for his work developing and trusting them at Nordsjaelland.

Among the names featured were Kellen Fisher, Gabriel Forsyth and Elliot Myles. All of the players still in the first-team mix were included, but quickly forgotten have been those who didn't quite make the cut.

One of them was Uriah Djedje, the physical midfielder many diagnosed as the solution to any central problems City have experienced in recent years. He was athletic, positionally sound, solid on the ball and mature beyond his tender years, controlling the tempo, along with Fisher, in the second half of a meeting with Northampton Town.

But was that all pre-season fever, or is he the next cab off the academy rank, the real Championship deal?

Much of what he's shown for the under-21s in recent weeks suggests the latter, as he's starred in a number of recent good performances and results. He started in wins over Reading, Southampton and Sparta Prague, as well as the 6-1 thrashing of West Brom at Colney.

In that Southampton comeback he played in a different role to the one he typically has, on the right of the midfield trio rather than at its base, and did the same more recently in a 1-1 Premier League Cup draw with Bristol City.

Given some of his characteristics that might seem an odd fit, taking him away from his usual screening role and pushing him further up the pitch. It has, however, allowed him to show a different side of his game and to affect things in an offensive sense.

The midfielder has played a more attacking role in recent weeks (Image: Martyn Haworth/Focus Images Ltd) Instances of Djedje driving at opposition defences are much more common, as is the pressure to produce penetrative passes and take more risks on the ball. In the main he's coped well with that, and looks like he could adapt to a more attacking role, but there has been less of the defensive strength seen in the summer and it hasn't all been plain sailing.

It's also worth noting the significant jump from development level to senior football, with much less time to find those passes and much better reading of the game from seasoned professionals.

The fact that the 18-year-old hasn't yet made a competitive appearance for the first team means that Thorup and his backroom staff still feel there's work to do to bridge that gap. There's a real difference between standing out on the training pitches and even keeping up at the top level.

But in Premier League 2 Djedje is regularly standing out. At such a young age he still has plenty of time to fulfil his potential, and plenty of older team-mates who are behind him in the pecking order.

Even under a coach wedded to academy productivity, though, only very few ever get the chance to make the sort of impression he did on fans three months ago. His next task is to get one outside the pre-season prism, and prove why he wasn't just a flash in the pan.