Norwich City must give Alex Pritchard more of a chance

If anyone had followed the extent of Brighton’s celebrations after winning promotion on Monday, their lacklustre performance perhaps shouldn’t have come as a surprise.

Chris Hughton’s side of course were deserving of all the praise that came their way after earning a place in the Premier League, a division in which Hughton’s last game as manager ended with the indignity of having to dodge those infamous clap banners that were thrown in his direction.

His Brighton side though had managed to do something City have struggled to all campaign: defend. Slightly ironic that on Friday night it was Norwich who managed to keep a clean sheet, and even more so that the player who did the damage was one that did a literal U-turn when on his way to the AMEX Stadium in the summer.

Alex Pritchard’s name may not strictly have been on the score sheet but his two strikes showed exactly why he has to be the key man in a promotion charge next season.

The midfielder had to wait until the middle of October to be handed one of just nine league starts by former manager and Friday night’s TV studio pundit Alex Neil. Before Alan Irvine took charge Pritchard had never started more than two league games in a row. He’s been in the latter’s starting eleven for each of his fixtures so far, and it’s clear to see why.