Norwich City column: Liam Gibbs catches the eye as Edward Seaman reflects on more positive week

If this summer was about sowing the seeds of promotion, then Norwich City are starting to show the first glimpses they are bearing fruit.

Admittedly, the 1-1 draw with Wigan and Tuesday night’s penalty shoot-out win against Birmingham in the League Cup are nothing much to write home about.

But both games contained positives – particularly when compared to the opening day woes at Cardiff.

For example, in attack. While no means the finished article, we are starting to look a more cohesive threat.

Against Wigan and Birmingham, we managed a combined 38 efforts on goal – compared to just six at Cardiff.

Show a bit more quality in the final third, and surely it won’t be long until the goals start flowing.

There have also been a number of individual performances worth noting.

I thought Todd Cantwell was at his energetic best against Wigan, while Danel Sinani’s goal and assist in the cup must put him in contention for the starting line-up at Hull this weekend.

I also want to give a nod to young Liam Gibbs, handed his first start against Birmingham following an impressive pre-season.

It’s fair to say the Bury St Edmunds midfielder has made plenty of waves in his short career, after opting to cross the East Anglian divide and swap Ipswich blue for Norwich yellow a year ago.

He looks very much at home at this level, with an assured performance that almost belittled his lack of senior experience. I’m confident the 19-year-old has a big future ahead of him.

The challenge for Dean Smith’s side now is to start turning these positives into wins.

If I’m going to be critical, the one real gripe I still hold is our propensity to give away sloppy goals. Both Wigan’s opener and Birmingham’s first goal came from us giving the ball away in our own half – and these mistakes need to be cut out, pronto.