Unbeaten in six games, one defeat in their last 10 - I'd say Norwich City are ticking over quite nicely.

They're sitting just outside the play-off positions, but it could have been so much better had they not drawn five of their last 10 games - only Bristol City have drawn more in the Championship.

Four of those draws, including the Stoke game, have come when Norwich have been in winning positions but, sadly, have not been able to see the game out. Something they need to improve on is their game management when in a winning position, but I’m sure that will get better as the season goes on.

The first 45 minutes at the bet365 stadium last Saturday was very good - Norwich created plenty of opportunities but took only one, when Ante Crnac scored a cracking goal right on half-time. But, just as you thought Norwich would go in at half-time winning the game, like so many other teams do they conceded within a minute when Million Manhoef smashed one past George Long.

With Stoke having just two wins in the league this season I do think that it was an opportunity missed by the Canaries - in saying that, they did score six at home last time around against Pompey.

If the Stoke game was a chance missed, I think the Preston game was very much a point gained, having been 2-0 down after just 12 minutes - talk about a slow start after that long journey up to the north west!

A rush of blood from George Long after five minutes gave the home side a penalty, which they converted, then Kellen Fisher was dispossessed mid-way in his own half and five seconds later Long’s picking up the ball from the back of his goal and Norwich have a mountain to climb - but they’ve plenty of time to climb it.

The crucial thing for me was the goal just before half-time from Borja Sainz - it was a lovely finish and it gave Norwich a lifeline after a below-par first half. To a degree they had got away with one, which I guess made the head coach’s half-time talk a little bit easier.

When I heard that Shane Duffy had scored Norwich’s equaliser up at Deepdale I thought it must have been a bullet header from a set-piece, probably a corner kick, but I couldn’t have been more wrong! It was a majestic, composed finish from the big man after his initial run and one-two with Josh Sargent for only his second Norwich goal, and a very timely one.

I can understand there being a few raised eyebrows about two long away trips in a short space of time for Norwich, but I wouldn’t complain too much about the fixture compiler as at the beginning of October, Hull had to travel to Loftus Road on a Tuesday night then Carrow Road on the Saturday and this week Swansea were in Blackburn last Saturday and Hillsborough on Tuesday night. I guess the compiler’s consistent at least!

Young guns

Jack WilshereJack Wilshere (Image: PA Images)

Jack Wilshere joined the club on Wednesday, having left Arsenal’s U18s to join Norwich.

Ben Knapper has gone back to his former club to recruit Wilshere, who will bring a wealth of experience to the football club, even though he’s still only 32 - he seems to have been around forever!

He’s worked with some top coaches and I’m sure his knowledge and the freshness he will bring will benefit not only the players but also Johannes Thorup who’s only three years older!

Poppy-land

Gary Hooper in his Norwich daysGary Hooper in his Norwich days (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd)

Finally I saw this week that Gary Hooper has signed for Kettering Town at the age of 36!

Kettering are Gary’s seventh club since he left Norwich in 2016. Fair play to him for wanting to carry on playing, he must still have the drive, desire and enthusiasm to still put the boots on, the same as big Grant Holt, who turns out for Dereham, and Leroy Lita, who’s still banging them in for Barnwell. Leroy will be 40 in December.

One thing is for sure, Gary wont be the most famous person ever to join the Poppies - I remember when they appointed Paul Gascoigne as their manager back in 2005, an appointment that ended disastrously after just 39 days!

It wasn’t that I never wanted to go down the non-League route at the end of my career - I stopped playing at 37 and my enthusiasm and desire for the game had left me and I was lucky I knew I had another career waiting for me, working for the BBC in Wales.