"Easy decision" - Norwich City: Johannes Hoff Thorup makes firm Shane Duffy revelation | OneFootball

The Canaries captain was a shock omission from Thorup's starting XI for Friday's 1-1 draw with Oxford United.

Norwich City manager Johannes Hoff Thorup has revealed that club captain Shane Duffy was omitted from the Canaries squad that drew with Oxford United on Friday due to the defender missing a team meeting.

Norwich's play-off push took a further dent at Carrow Road, as an early Josh Sargent opener was quickly cancelled out by a Mark Harris equaliser for the U's.

1-1 is how it would end in Norfolk, in what is a vital point for Oxford in their bid to avoid relegation. Whilst for the Canaries, they will surely see it as two huge points dropped in the race for a top-six spot.

Norwich City boss Johannes Hoff Thorup reveals why Shane Duffy was dropped for Oxford United draw

There was a fairly shocking and unexpected omission from Thorup's starting XI on Friday night, with Norwich skipper Duffy dropped to the bench.

The 33-year-old veteran central defender had started every single one of Norwich's 35 Championship games prior to the meeting with Oxford, and has been a mainstay in the starting lineup ever since his free agent move after being released from Fulham in July 2023.

However, speaking via BBC Sport post-match, Thorup revealed benching his captain wasn't a tactical or performance-related decision.

He said: "Shane was late for the team meeting.

"I set a culture for a football team and tell the players how we run things. It's unfortunate for Shane and he didn't do it on purpose but we've made it clear incidents like that cannot happen on game day.

"It was an easy decision to take even though I don't like it – the culture is on top of anything else. There is room for mistakes but in my view mistakes should be followed by consequences."

Norwich's season is threatening to peter out - Thorup's position must be under threat if Canaries miss play-offs

Whilst Friday's draw with Oxford extended Norwich's unbeaten run in the Championship to four games, Thorup's side have only won once during that time.

The Canaries monopolised the vast majority of the game at Carrow Road, but despite their best efforts, their usually potent attack couldn't breach Oxford's resilient defence enough to secure what would've been three vital points.

It's fair to say that Thorup's debut season in charge in the Norwich dugout isn't going to plan. With the club having achieved a play-off finish last term, the expectation was that the Canaries would once again be playing for a place in the Premier League come May this year.

However, with defensive issues plaguing Thorup's side throughout the campaign, as well as inconsistent performances and results taking away the chance for momentum to build, City find themselves hovering around mid-table and growing increasingly adrift from the play-off race with just 10 games to go.

Should the Canaries fail to crack the top-six this season, then the club's hierarchy could have some big decisions to make in the summer with regard to whether they feel Thorup is the right man to lead the team forward into the future.