Norwich City: How Canaries have gained from internationals

The disruption of leagues, the potential for injury, the lack of jeopardy in almost every match played during the club season. Even the routine can get frustrating, when there's no Match of the Day and Bake Off falls by the wayside in favour of dull Nations League action.

But for all the irritation, disturbance and boredom, there are still positives for the prime optimists to find. Among all of the doom and gloom there are benefits to the intervals, and that's certainly true for Norwich City.

For the regular starters and talismanic figures that's less often the case, at least from a purely analytical club football perspective. Of course there's personal pride attached to every minute representing one's country, but the aforementioned negatives outweigh those gains in strictly sporting terms.

Instead it's the fringe collective who come back refreshed and renewed, buoyed by game time or confidence-earning moments they've been starved of at club level.

Take, for example, Grant Hanley. The City captain has been forced to watch on from the sidelines in yellow and green, sitting on the bench behind Shane Duffy, Jose Cordoba and Callum Doyle in the pecking order. When Cordoba was injured at half time in the 1-1 draw with Leeds, a near-comprehensive reshuffle to the back four was conducted rather than introducing him as a substitute.

But in the last week he's been trusted twice by Steve Clarke to play against the world's best, keeping a clean sheet against Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal and gaining valuable minutes he wouldn't have received at Norwich.

He'll return to Colney not only with much greater match fitness, but also a confidence and positivity found by footballers only in games and sporting successes. In the dressing room Johannes Hoff Thorup will have another contented player, and on the pitch he'll have someone more capable of stepping in than he would have been before the break.

The same is true of Ben Chrisene, whose recent concussion halted the momentum he was building in a City shirt. After missing crucial meetings with the Whites and Hull he started twice for the English Elite League Squad, helping them to wins over Italy and the Czech Republic.

Brad Hills was also in that squad, coming on as a substitute in both games to play at the highest level he has for some time. Recent demotions to the under-21s at Carrow Road highlighted his struggle for match minutes despite a promising pre-season, and he returns with two more youth caps under his belt.

Brad Hills has struggled for game time at club level (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd) Liverpool loanee Kaide Gordon may have been the most impressive of the group, notching his first goal at under-20 level in the second of two impactful performances. Less than two weeks on from opening his account at Norwich, the sense of momentum behind him is huge.

Then there's Gabriel Forsyth, the first-team option from almost nowhere who's been a victim of his own success in many ways. The role he now occupies as a first-team squad player has meant little match involvement for the 18-year-old, but with the Scotland under-19s he's played another two games.

They were both friendlies against Hungary and they might not have been of the highest quality, but the boost he'll have felt as one of the side's main men will be one he too will bring back to Norfolk.

Add all of those up and it's actually been a rather productive period for Norwich, despite the slow pace with which it's passed for supporters. That's not even including the rest and recuperation afforded to the non-internationals, and the extra training time for Thorup.

The Danish head coach and his players will undoubtedly be itching to get back to club action, but it's not all been misery as far as internationals are concerned.