11:00PM BST 26 Aug 2012
Both clubs will be determined to maintain their rebuilding momentum, though, right up to the summer transfer window’s closure on Friday.
For
Yet after the 5-0 opening-day home hammering from Swansea and giving away
another hatful of chances at
“There are a lot of names out there and I know the ones that are realistic,” said Hughes, as Dawson’s proposed move stalled on personal terms. “We’ll have a look at other options, but it might be something that presents itself in the last few hours of the window that makes sense from our point of view. But we have invested in the squad. We have got a number of players coming in that have been with us for some time, it’s just that there is a bit of discrepancy in terms of fitness levels.”
QPR created little at Carrow Road but in Bobby Zamora and Djibril Cisse there should be enough potency to bring the top-flight goals needed to stave off trouble, although a gashed head may keep the former out for seven days.
Cisse won and took the visitors’ first-half penalty saved by John Ruddy, while Zamora - with a healthy portion of encroachment unpunished by referee Mark Clattenburg - converted Rangers’ equaliser.
For new Norwich manager Chris Hughton the task is similar to Hughes, but the situation vastly different. Their first competitive game of the post-Paul Lambert era brought a 5-0 thrashing at Fulham, heralding debuts for defensive recruits Sébastien Bassong and Javier Garrido against Rangers, while Rennes midfielder Alexander Tettey was paraded before kick-off.
But it was profligacy in front of goal that prevented a Norwich win despite improvement elsewhere, with Robert Snodgrass, on his home City debut after a protracted move from Leeds, the catalyst for Norwich’s 12th-minute opener headed home by the recalled Simeon Jackson.
The chances that went begging in the next 78 minutes suggest the arrival of attacking options by deadline day is a necessity if Norwich are to avoid arriving at the next window in uncomfortable surroundings.
