Gabe Forsyth’s meteoric rise to a full Norwich City Championship debut is the Canaries ‘walking the talk’ for head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup.

The 18-year-old midfielder only made his senior debut from the bench on the opening day at Oxford, before signing a new long term Carrow Road deal and then earning a start in the 2-2 home draw against Blackburn.

Forsyth could have sealed a fairytale week with a wonder goal from long distance, but the teenager was denied by an acrobatic one-handed stop from Aynsley Pears.

Thorup insisted the youngster has earned his spot after catching his eye in pre-season.

“He is a player for now but especially for the future,” he said. “He, of course, also needs experience in this league, and it will take time for him, but we have to walk the talk, and we talk about bringing young players into the game and into the strategy of the club. So it's important we also do that when the chance is there.

“It's so easy to talk about being safe with players you know, but sometimes you have to let them play and see what they can do. And he's in a positive place at the moment.

"There's a lot of talk about experience, but you only get experience by playing, so we have to give him the minutes, and the same for some of the other players that are young and need to get in there and get the minutes.

“It was an obvious choice, and I think it's basically for this game here where we could see that there would maybe be some space in between the lines. He can turn on one touch and can accelerate the game.

"He has a fantastic left foot and he was close to scoring also in first half with that shot from distance. He looked a little tired towards the 60 minutes. But that's how it is. 

"He needs some improvements and developments to be ready for a full season in the Championship.”