Swiss blitz a sign of the times for Clement’s Canaries

Norwich City’s impressive first‑half blitz in St Gallen offered the clearest yet sign that Philippe Clement’s side are continuing to click, according to defender Ruairi McConville.

The Canaries swept to a 3‑0 win in Switzerland, with Jacob Wright, Paris Maghoma and McConville all on target in a fluid first half that saw them repeatedly carve open Europa League opposition.

City handled a significant step up in their pre‑season schedule with aplomb, slicing through the Swiss side almost at will. That control owed much to the hard graft Clement has demanded on the training pitches at Colney, as McConville explains.

"It was a real step up in terms of our opposition, but it was a really good first half and so many positives to take from the game," the Northern Ireland international said.

"We've done so much. We're working really hard. We're all putting in the work and obviously we've got new players on the side that we're trying to blend into the squad but you can see that everyone's done so well tonight.

"We're all on the same page. Obviously, there's stuff we still want to improve on, and there's still a lot of time before the season, but we just want to take the positives from this and build on it going into the camp next week."

Much of City’s attacking interplay flowed through Maghoma, Oscar Schwartau and new winger Andre Brooks, with further attacking options still to come into the side and provide stern competition for places.

For McConville, that mouthwatering mix of quality and competition is driving the fluency City showed in St Gallen.

Philippe Clement's side continues to make progress in their build-up to the new Championship campaign. (Image: Philipp Kresnik)

"We all have a nice flow with each other, and there are so many exciting players in the squad and so much competition in the squad.

"You look at the players coming on, we still created so much in the second half after making so many changes, so there's good competition in the squad, and we're all working hard. Everyone's going to want to be in that starting team come the first game of the season, so there's still a lot of work to do.

"There are still moments where we were probably a bit sloppy when we didn't want to be, but so many positives to take from the game, and it's exciting with what we've produced tonight."