Source: Team_Talk
Lambert delighted by spirit
Paul Lambert hailed the spirit of his Norwich side after they held off late Sunderland pressure to record a hard-earned 2-1 win at Carrow Road.[LNB] Centre-back Leon Barnett put the Canaries in front on 31 minutes after winger Elliott Bennett skipped into the right side of the penalty area.[LNB]Wales forward Steve Morison powered in a bullet header at the start of the second half after the Black Cats were again caught napping at the back, before substitute Kieran Richardson set up a tense finale when he drilled in a late consolation.[LNB]"They are young and seem to be bonding really well at the minute and that is testament to themselves," Lambert said.[LNB]"I think that comes from where this club is - in the Norfolk area, there's not much you can do here other than travel nine hours to get somewhere.[LNB]"You have got to hang about with each other, so I think that certainly helps you.[LNB]"Home form is going to crucial for us, and if we can keep this place with the feeling we have got and the crowd behind us, then I think we will do all right."[LNB]Lambert, who has overseen successive promotions from League One since taking charge two seasons ago, added: "When a team scores with five minutes to go, it puts you on the back foot, especially when you are up against this type of quality player.[LNB]"It is really tough, you know from a mistake you are going to get punished and I am delighted the lads saw it through."[LNB]Norwich head to Manchester United next weekend, where Lambert believes his men can put in a good account of themselves.[LNB]He said: "The quality of the players and teams you are up against is extremely high, and I knew before tonight if we could win this one, then we would go to Old Trafford a bit more buoyant than just going up there and getting turned over.[LNB]The one down side for the Canaries tonight was the loss of James Vaughan to another knee injury, the striker hobbling off late on having been introduced as a second-half substitute.[LNB]The summer signing from Everton had only just returned to action following a pre-season injury.[LNB]"His knee is locked at the minute, which is a sign something is wrong in there, so we will have to see tomorrow," Lambert said.[LNB]"The only good thing is it is not the same knee he did hurt the last time, so that is the only bit of positive I can take out of it."[LNB]There were, though, little up sides for Sunderland boss Steve Bruce.[LNB]Despite chances for Nicklas Bendtner and substitute Connor Wickham - who headed straight at the Norwich keeper from six yards - the Black Cats boss accepted his side's showing was just not up to standard.[LNB]He said: "If I am being honest, we didn't play well enough. There were too many individual poor performances and we kept giving the ball away cheaply.[LNB]"We rallied at the end and started getting the ball up quickly, but we didn't perform.[LNB]"We had too many international players who played badly."[LNB]Bruce had kept an unchanged side from the one which thumped Stoke 4-0 at the Stadium of Light last weekend.[LNB]He added: "I cannot criticise the workrate, but it was down to simple mistakes at the back.[LNB]"Norwich are on a crest of a wave and their fans are up for it, but for both goals, our defending was awful."
