Liam Manning pleased with Norwich’s response at Sheffield Wednesday

Under-pressure head coach Liam Manning felt his Norwich players “responded really well” to come from behind and secure a 1-1 draw at Sheffield Wednesday.

After Josh Sargent missed a great chance for Norwich in the opening minute, Wednesday skipper Barry Bannan scored with a superb 30-yard effort a few minutes later. Substitute Mathias Kvistgaarden equalised just after the hour as the Canaries ended a six-game losing run.

Both sides had chances to win it, with Norwich goalkeeper Vladan Kovacevic producing several good saves while Wednesday counterpart Ethan Horvath kept out Kvistgaarden’s downward header in stoppage time.

Manning said: “We should have gone one-up. It was a great opportunity for ‘Sarge’ and a fantastic finish from Barry Bannan, to be fair.

“We didn’t play with enough aggression and intent, which we spoke about at half-time. And then I thought we came out second half and showed a response.

“We showed some fight, we showed some purpose, we played forward, ran forward, created some really good opportunities, albeit we conceded a couple of decent ones as well.

“For me, we deserved a point. I think the fact we came out second half and showed a response is exactly what we needed to do.

“I want us to play forward. I want us to be brave. I want us to take risks. I want us to run forward. I want us to show a level of aggression which shows that we understand the fight we’re in. 

“We’ve stopped the run of defeats. The lads responded really well and we have to take the positives from that. You’ve got to start winning games, I think, before you start convincing people.”

Sheffield Wednesday boss Henrik Pedersen was encouraged by the “courage” and “confidence” shown by his players.

Pedersen said: “First, I feel very, very proud for the performance tonight. I feel very proud for the big picture with legends here, with nearly a full stadium, with a group of players who do everything they can to win a football game.

“We’re always looking behind the result to see what we can learn from this game.

“I think today the players played with courage, with confidence, with power from the first moment.

“After the first chance we got against us, we were very strong and had a fantastic goal from Bannan. How we play on the ball in the first half is maybe the best we have done in the season, or one of the best we have done in the season.

“We were very, very strong in the transition and we had five big, big chances and it should be enough. I think it’s very positive that it’s higher than expected, so a lot of steps in the right direction.”