Norwich boss Liam Manning praised his players’ resilience as they clung on to win 2-1 at Portsmouth.
The victory was Manning’s first in the Championship since taking charge of his boyhood club in the summer.
The Canaries were cruising after first-half goals from Harry Darling and Josh Sargent but, 10 minutes from time, Colby Bishop missed a penalty for John Mousinho’s side before Adrian Segecic pulled a goal back in the 84th minute.
Norwich then had to survive 10 minutes of added time, during which John Swift struck the bar.
Manning said: “It’s a really tough place to come, you only have to look at the results here last year. We knew that and we showed a real fighting spirit.”
The Canaries were captained by Sargent, who remains linked with a move away from the club, though Manning is hopeful that he will still be at Carrow Road at the beginning of September.
“I’m hoping Ben (Knapper – director of football) turns his phone off so we don’t get any calls,” he joked.
“Sarge role models everything you want. He’s a top person, a top professional. You see his work rate and how he leads by example. He’s top class.”
Mousinho was left frustrated by his side’s defending in the first half and also by the referee, Stephen Martin, who booked Connor Ogilvie for diving during added time.
He said: “There’s definite contact. Connor gets a free shot on goal if he’s through. It’s just a penalty and I don’t know why it isn’t given. I’m going to go and speak to the referee and find out why he didn’t give it.”
Pompey were sluggish for long periods and had a dreadful start when Darling headed in unmarked from Marcelino Nunez’s free-kick and Sargent nodded home a second at the far post following Darling’s long throw.
“I thought we just apologetically defended the first goal, allowing Harry Darling to have a free header. It doesn’t matter what level you play at, that’s not good,” said Mousinho.
“We’ve ended the game scratching our heads wondering how we didn’t get the equaliser.”
Australian forward Segecic has now scored in both of his Portsmouth appearances since joining from Sydney FC and Mousinho was full of praise for the early impact his new signing has made.
He said: “He started off as a 10 and then went out on the right. His goalscoring last year was excellent. He got 14 goals in the A League and now has got two in two.”
