Norwich City Fan View: Play-off hopes fading fast

Norwich City spurned the opportunity to move to within just four points of 6th-placed Sheffield Wednesday as they were held by Ipswich to a 1-1 draw in Sunday’s East Anglian Derby. Successfully avoiding defeat – having gone behind to Jonas Knudsen 64th-minute opener – takes it to 8 consecutive derbies unbeaten for Norwich, but that will be little consolation to the City supporters who were dependent on a win and 3 points in order to keep their play-off hopes alive. So, amidst this disappointment, what did we learn from the game?

Next weekend’s trip to Hillsborough is, quite literally, last chance saloon

It feels like I have been the same thing every week – I’m not sure how many ‘last chances’ one side can have – but it really does look as if next Saturday will be the be all or end all in terms of City’s promotion hopes. I, and the majority of City supporters, saw the visit of Ipswich as a must win game in order to capitalise on Sheffield Wednesday’s dropped points on Saturday and failure to do so has left many deflated. Nonetheless, should we manage to win at Hillsborough next weekend then the gap will reduce to just 3 points and with 12 games still to play this is by no means insurmountable. On the other hand, should the unthinkable (but likely) happen and we lose then the gap extends to 9 points, with away trips to improving Preston and high-flying Leeds and Huddersfield still to come – in other words, if we lose, then we can officially put any lingering dreams to bed and consign ourselves to the prospect of Championship football again next season.

Our defence cost us, yet again

This isn’t exactly a groundbreaking claim – for it is the same case every week – but it can’t be ignored that once again it was our defensive frailties that cost us the crucial three points. In classic Mick McCarthy style, Ipswich came to snatch a point. They were not the slightest bit interested in taking the game to us and, in theory, it should have been the most comfortable afternoon our back four have had all season. Indeed, it was an unusually easy afternoon – until the 64th minute when, with their only shot on target, Ipswich scored. Even in the most one-sided, dominant of games our defence will still always give you an opportunity and this was the case once more as Mitchell Dijks gave Jordan Spence too much time and space to find Knudsen at the back post who, having been left by Jacob Murphy, nodded the ball past Ruddy to put Ipswich ahead. It was yet another soft goal conceded in a season full of them and for as long as we continue to be so fragile at that back we will make no progress in this division.

Nelson Oliveira’s absence is threatening to cripple our season

17 attempts, 7 on target, 14 corners but, the most important stat of all: just 1 goal. For all of the criticism that our defence has justifiably received, there is no denying that our forwards should be receiving just as much. To create so many opportunities, and have so many shots, and only score one goal is unforgivable. Yes, Bartosz Białkowski in the Ipswich net had an absolute stormer (other than for our goal, which he should have done better with) but our finishing should have been better. Alex Tettey’s late strike, which Białkowski did well to stop, would have found the net had he hit the ball anywhere but straight at the Pole, whilst Cameron Jerome, in typical fashion, spurned numerous good chances. Of course, when Jerome is missing chances, you can’t help but rue the absence of the injured Nelson Oliveira – a much more natural finisher. It is easy to say hindsight but I am pretty confident that if the Portuguese had been fit and had started today then he would have scored. Even if he was on the bench, he would have offered an alternative to Jerome but seeing as the only option Neil was left with on the bench was Kyle Lafferty, Jerome was forced to play the 90 minutes despite his painfully obvious waning influence. In the build-up to the game, Neil gave the promising news that Oliveira’s recovery is ahead of schedule and that he could be back in the fold in as little as two weeks. Of course, this comes as music to the ears of all Norwich supporters but unless we win at Hillsborough next weekend then it could all be too little, too late.