Philippe Clement ‘fueled’ by Norwich resurgence and says more still to come

Norwich head coach Phillippe Clement was keen for his players to take the credit after watching his side beat Charlton 1-0 to maintain their remarkable improvement at Carrow Road.

Under his predecessor Liam Manning the Canaries had lost their first seven home games of the season – but since his arrival they have taken 10 points from a possible 12 to move to within sight of a place outside the bottom three.

Their latest success on home soil was more comfortable than the scoreline suggests, with Jovon Makama scoring his fourth goal in three games to settle a one-sided encounter.

His latest key contribution came in the 61st minute when he used his strength to control a ball into the box from substitute Jacob Wright before working himself some space and letting fly with an unstoppable shot.

“I get my fuel from what the players do on the pitch and seeing them improve as they have done recently,” said Clement.

“To be here on Boxing Day, in front of a full house with the players getting a deserved win – that is the reason you do the job.

“There were lots of positives out there – obviously winning the game, that’s the most important thing, but also getting a clean sheet and getting some work into the legs of some players who needed a run out. It’s all about finding the right balance at this time of year.

“I thought we were clearly the better team and deserved the three points, even though we could have made better decisions at times.

“I think the squad is not at its full potential yet, and it’s about the players continuing to work hard and growing as individuals.”

Former Lincoln striker Makama could easily have fired Norwich ahead in the first half, with one effort well saved by Thomas Kaminski and another coming back off the upright.

Norwich had other chances to have made it a more comfortable win, while Charlton did not manage a single effort on target all afternoon and could have no complaints about the outcome.

Assistant manager Curtis Fleming was on the touchline for Charlton in place of Nathan Jones, who was serving a one-match ban and was watching from the stands.

“Obviously the lads missed Nathan out there, he is a big presence on the touchline, but they can’t use that as an excuse for not being who they are,” he said.

“It was disappointing that they were not the best version of themselves out there today.

“Coming here I thought it was a good opportunity to get something after the positive result against Oxford last time out but nothing we tried seemed to come off.

“There were chances to create something from transitions but we didn’t take them and I can’t remember their keeper making a save.

“We didn’t show enough quality and a few of the lads looked off it so it’s a question now of dusting ourselves down and getting ready to go again.”