Norwich boss Daniel Farke says his players must continue to believe in themselves following their 2-2 draw at Stoke. The faltering Canaries twice squandered the lead as they were held to their fourth successive draw. Onel Hernandez gave the Sky Bet Championship pacesetters the lead midway through the first half after he tapped home a loose ball, only for Ashley Williams to level just after the break with a back post header. Teemu Pukki restored the visitors’ lead when flicked home from a Mario Vrancic cross against the run of play on 66 minutes – but they held it for just three minutes as Ryan Edwards levelled. It could have been much worse for Norwich with Stoke missing a number of good chances to win it late on. Farke said: “We were of course hoping for a win to make our lives easier but of course success never comes easy. “This point in the end could be crucial so you have to not lose your head and lose the game. “Our players are so greedy to win and I like this, but there is no reason to doubt ourselves and we go again at Blackburn. “After Stoke scored, for the 20 following minutes we were not at our best and we were doubting ourselves so we will speak about this. It’s a good lesson today. “We are disappointed with the draw, we had the dominance in the first half and we should have been able to kick on from there. “The goals we gave away were disappointing, we had to make sure we went for the second goal so there will be times when we are exposed. “We needed to defend better, Stoke punished us and we have to learn these lessons. The players are disappointed.” Stoke boss Nathan Jones said he was proud of his side’s second-half efforts. “I told us to go back to the game plan at half-time,” he said. “We showed them too much respect and did not press them and work them. “We were much the better in the second half. We got into them and worked harder and showed more aggression. “We did more with the ball and we had a side and shape to cause them problems – and we did that. “The second half is what we wanted when we planned the game in the week. We were far too passive in the first half and we needed to change that. “We stepped it up and showed a real desire to win the game in the second half, I thought we were excellent. “If we had been more clinical, like Norwich are, it would be different. “We have to make sure we keep working hard and keep improving, as Norwich have done.” Topics Norwich, Stoke, Championship, Norwich, Stoke Norwich edge closer to the Premier League with draw at Stoke Farke signs new Norwich deal Hughes confirms Stoke interest in Redmond Striker Jerome joins Norwich from Stoke Sarri sent to the stands as Chelsea held by Burnley Brooks grabs late equaliser for Wolfsburg against Frankfurt Marcelo responds to Real Madrid exit talk and Ronaldo reunion rumours Bielsa sad after Leeds are stung by Bees Norwich’s Premier League promotion party put on hold Monday’s big transfer rumours: First major casualty of Manchester United rebuild revealed Ranked! The 50 best players in the Premier League this season Tottenham believe star player will choose them over Real Madrid Why Bolton are the hardest club to support in English football Ranked! The 10 best Championship teams EVER, by points total
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