Norwich head coach Dean Smith hailed matchwinner Onel Hernandez after his last-gasp goal sealed a 2-1 victory against Birmingham at St Andrew’s to make it four wins in a row for the Canaries.
Substitute Hernandez, who spent the second half of last season on loan with Blues, swept home the winner in the third minute of stoppage time to lift Norwich to second place in the Sky Bet Championship.
The 29-year-old Cuban winger’s first goal since scoring for Blues in a 3-0 win against Luton on February 12 came after Andrew Omobamidele’s 63rd-minute equaliser cancelled out Scott Hogan’s strike five minutes after the break.
Hernandez’s winner made it a happy return to the second city for former Aston Villa manager Smith.
He said of Hernandez: “I think they still love him here really! He had a good time last season and played well.
“He’s a breath of fresh air at times. I spoke to him today about not starting because he’s started the last couple of games.
“He said, ‘listen, I’m a team player – I want to be celebrating at the end of the season having made a contribution’. He certainly did that with the impact he made when he came on.
“At the moment our squad is deep in terms of offensive options and we’re managing to change games from the bench.”
Blues were keen on bringing Hernandez back here but Smith said that was never going to happen.
“No. He was staying with us,” said Smith. “His attitude, application, what he brings – he’s a player none of our lads like playing against in training.
“He’s still working on his end product and what better way to show me that his end product is improving.”
Hogan tapped home his second goal of the season from Juninho Bacuna’s left-wing cross, which flicked up off Max Aarons.
Omobamidele scrambled home after former Norwich goalkeeper John Ruddy brilliantly tipped away Marcelino Nunez’s curling free-kick.
Hernandez, who scored three times across 22 games for Blues last season, finished with a low, angled shot after Teemu Pukki found him in space when Blues defender Marc Roberts got under a long ball.
Blues head coach John Eustace rued the result after a promising performance by his youngsters.
“We clearly deserved more. I’m really disappointed to lose,” he said.
“The effort of the boys was fantastic. We finished the game with six under-19s on the pitch which is the harsh reality of it, and those six were fantastic.
“On a positive note, I was very proud of the group. It’s the best I’ve seen them play collectively together.
“The older boys were really good – Troy Deeney was magnificent, he really led by example and looked after the young boys.
“It was a positive to get Hannibal Mejbri on the pitch. He was exciting and will bring something to the group.
“Scott Hogan has been sick for the last three days and had been stuck in the house, but at 5pm he declared himself fit and scored a fantastic goal.”
