Paddy Davitt delivers his Luton verdict after Norwich City’s 4-2 Championship win.

1. We are back, baby

To paraphrase the pre-match words of Johannes Hoff Thorup if Norwich were able to follow up that midweek Plymouth romp after a battling point away to West Brom. But this latest Carrow Road win was anything but routine.

Elijah Adebayo pounced to put the Hatters in front after poor play from Anis Ben Slimane on the edge of his own box. But Ante Crnac served up more evidence for the defence he can carry the goalscoring burden in Josh Sargent’s absence.

But even then Jacob Brown’s early second half leveller, from a sloppy piece of City defensive work at a corner, was another test for this rapidly-improving young Canaries’ outfit.

Crnac squared for Emi Marcondes, and then Onel Hernanadez cut the ball back for Borja Sainz and it was party time again for home fans who more than played their part at 2-2 with the game in the balance as the noise levels moved through the gears in unison with City’s attacking play.

Thorup will be the last to get carried away but this is a week to savour after the gruelling swing prior to the last international period that checked some of the rising optimism. It is back and it is growing with each controlled victory.

2. Saucy Jack

Remarkably a fourth assist of the past Championship week for the recalled Jack Stacey. If the 28-year-old was intent on making a statement after making way for Kellen Fisher then Thorup will have hear him loud and clear.

On this occasion, Stacey refused to give up a lost cause as Tahith Chong criminally tried to run a ball over his own dead ball line but must have watched in horror as Stacey wrapped his right boot around the ball for Crnac to rifle Norwich in front.

But Stacey’s impact should be measured far beyond his rising assist account. Thorup spoke openly in the build up how part of that decision to pivot towards Fisher may have been in part the youngster’s better understanding of a crucial role within the Dane’s tactical set up.

Full backs are not ultra defensive or overlapping attacking machines. He wants that game intelligence to invert, to pick and choose the right moment to join the attack or bolster his defensive line.

Less eyecatching but no less impressive was a crunching tackle to halt Chong at the other end in the closing stages of the opening period, before he moved through the gears to win City a corner.

It is testament to Stacey’s professionalism and character, as Thorup referenced after he returned to the fold at West Brom, but also Thorup’s ability to improve not just raw talent but an experienced operator.

3. Let battle commence

Marcelino Nunez made his return from those hamstring issues in the 74th minute. His first act was to club a free kick over his team mates and out of play.

But the Chilean can be forgiven a degree of rust. How important he has become within a Thorup side was painfully evident in that trio of league defeats prior to the last international break.

When Nunez dropped to the floor at Stoke it actually felt like a big moment in the direction of travel, but it was only the subsequent decline in results, performances and midfield control that brought into sharp focus just how vital a cog he is in the machine.

That axis with Kenny McLean, in particular, and later the trio with Slimane had anchored some of City’s best work this season.

Now Marcondes has worked his way into the cast list with some impressive recent displays that highlighted his technical ability and his game intelligence. But Nunez feels like the glue in his energetic willingness to cover ground, his passing range and more often than set piece reliability.

There will be others, like Jacob Sorensen or Oscar Schwartau, who want to muscle their way into the conversation but right now Thorup would appear to have the enviable task of perming three from a quartet of central midfielders who in each case look like they can be influential figures in Norwich’s bid for sustained upward mobility in the long run in to the festive period and beyond.

4. Ante’s accelerator

From Thorup’s demands for more end product from the 20-year-old big money summer signing to a week which has seen him move second only behind Borja Sainz, and level with Sargent, in the City Championship goalscoring charts.

Thorup detected a shift at West Brom, which continued in the Plymouth hammering with a long overdue goal and real evidence he was understanding the physical demands and the type of positions he needed to occupy in leading the line in such a demanding league.

His first half brace against the Hatters underscored his poacher’s instincts. Two similar close range finishes.

The first especially a clever blur of right foot, left foot touches to open the space to rifle through a ruck of Luton defenders. Not forgetting the unselfish awareness to square instead of shoot when Marcondes was better-positioned for the third home goal.

Thorup maintained in all his public utterances his belief had not wavered Crnac will became a mainstay striker for Norwich. Do not underestimate the mentoring role played by a fit-again Ashley Barnes, who can help fast-track Crnac’s Championship education on a daily basis at Colney.

Norwich’s pre-international downturn coincided with Crnac’s re-deployment and illustrated the drop when Sargent is unavailable.

But that looks less of a chasm after what may, in time, prove a watershed week in the Croatian’s debut City tour.