"Way better" -Johannes Hoff Thorup identifies Norwich City element that he's not happy with | OneFootball

The Canaries managed to get a draw after trailing by two goals against Preston.

Johannes Hoff Thorup has stated that his Norwich City side have to be "way better" in the early stages of games after conceding twice in the first dozen minutes against Preston North End on Tuesday night.

The Canaries gave themselves a mountain to climb at Deepdale when they went 2-0 down early in the game. A simple ball in behind in the first five minutes of the game led to Emil Riis Jacobsen being brought down in the box by Norwich goalkeeper George Long - the subsequent penalty was slotted home by Sam Greenwood.

And then, six minutes later, Kellen Fisher got caught on the ball in his own half. Play was swiftly moved over to Duane Holmes, who doubled Preston's advantage.

City managed to get themselves back into the game and take a point away from their trip to Lancashire, thanks to goals from Borja Sainz and Shane Duffy, but it could have been more if they had started the game better.

Johannes Hoff Thorup unhappy with part of Norwich City's performance

The Danish manager has said that his team needs to be better than they were at the start of Tuesday night's fixture. He was happy with the way that his team battled back, and felt that they may have had a chance to win the game after Duffy's equaliser, but admitted that they can't afford to give away easy advantages like that away from home.

Speaking after the final whistle, he said, via Pink Un: "To be 2-0 down after 10, 15, minutes, when you know we are coming to a difficult place. We have to make sure that we are way better than that.

"On the other side, pleased with the mentality in the group, pleased with the dominance which we showed, especially in the first half, and it was important we got the goal just before half-time.

Preston North End - Norwich City Live Score

"But overall, just the energy and the team spirit within the group I think is fantastic. There was a great belief that we could turn things around and that we can actually get three points when we spoke in half-time.

"That's the most important. We know traveling away from home it's always difficult, and it's always very, very hard, and we made it even harder with these first 10 minutes.

"We have to look at (the start) from all the angles without being carried away. Because, of course, you can concede goals in football. That's how it is. So it's not like we have to change our rhythm or preparation or stuff like that, we just have to make sure that it's clear for everyone what to do and how to start a game.

"I think it's everything from our kick-off to our decisions within the first couple of minutes that are not good enough. So it's not only the goals. There's more into and we have to look at that start with critical eyes. And then, like we always do, make sure that we make it clear for the players how we should handle this first part of a game for the next time.

"I think actually the belief and the energy would have been the same in half-time, even though we were 2-0 down, because what we could see on the pitch was that the guys were communicating and supporting each other.

"I want to highlight the situation where we give the ball away in our build up and Ante (Crnac) sprints back 50 metres and makes a tackle on the edge of the box to recover the ball. That's exactly what we want to see and I also highlighted that to the boys in half-time.

"I don't think I had to say anything because there's such a good mentality in the group, and there is a good belief that we could turn things around, that we can get the three points. And of course, after Shane's goal, I actually thought we were about to take the three points."

Norwich have the ingredients to be a contending team

The departures of Gabriel Sara, Jonathan Rowe and then Abu Kamara on deadline day could have left Norwich in a very vulnerable position. Hoff Thorup didn't look to be set up to succeed in the way that other coaches in the Championship had been, but he's made it work.

They currently sit just outside the play-off places, and, after the start that they have had, the goal will be to at least replicate what they did last season under David Wagner.