Norwich took another big step away from the Championship drop zone as they beat relegation-rivals Blackburn 2-0 to make it four wins in five league games.
A scrappy encounter was lit up by a quick one-two just past the midway point of the second half, with Anis Ben Slimane on target with his fourth goal in five games and Mohamed Toure netting on his debut.
Slimane opened the scoring after 73 minutes, slotting in the rebound after Oscar Schwartau’s shot had come back off the woodwork and Toure quickly added a second from close range.
Struggling Blackburn gave the hosts a run for their money and might have come away with a point on another day, but they could have few complaints about the result, having failed to trouble goalkeeper Vladan Kovacevic all afternoon.
A drab first half saw two misfiring sides largely cancel each other out, with little goalmouth action at either end.
The only moment of genuine excitement came in the 34th minute when Hayden Carter did well to head a goal-bound effort from Jacob Wright over after the Norwich midfielder had been set up by Ali Ahmed.
The Canaries had a good deal more of the ball but failed to make much use of it, while – at the other end – Blackburn rarely posed a threat, with a skied shot from Sondre Tronstad their only attempt on goal before the break.
Norwich suffered a setback early in the second half when they lost top scorer Jovon Makama to an ankle injury, with new signing Toure coming on to replace him.
Play continued to be scrappy, although Blackburn did have their first clear sight of goal midway through the half, with ex-Canary Todd Cantwell’s shot being deflected over.
But it was the hosts who eventually made the breakthrough in the 73rd minute as an alert Ben Slimane maintained his rich vein of goalscoring form.
Rovers looked to have had a lucky escape when a rasping drive from the edge of the area from substitute Schwartau came back off the upright but the ball bounced kindly for Slimane to rifle home from just outside the six-yard box.
The hosts doubled their advantage four minutes later as Toure marked his debut with a goal.
Once again Schwartau played a key role, bursting into the box after a Blackburn slip and bringing out a good save from Balazs Toth, with the loose ball then breaking for the Australia striker to tap the ball into an unguarded net.
Managerless Rovers never threatened a comeback, with Norwich comfortably seeing the game out for maximum points.
