Daniel Farke hailed his ‘talisman’ Mathias Normann after an epic match-winning performance in Norwich City’s maiden 2-1 Premier League win of the season at Brentford.

The Norwegian international opened the scoring with a composed finish and then threaded a ball through for Teemu Pukki that led to a penalty converted by the frontman.

But Normann was also prominent in a second half rearguard action that saw him suffer a dislocated finger.

His emotional reaction at the final whistle, when he dropped to the turf before being congratulated by his team mates, underlined the midfielder is already a key part of Farke’s battleplan.

“Mathias is fantastic. I cannot praise him enough for what he is doing,” he said. “You get the feeling although he has only been with us a few weeks his blood is already yellow. Of course, I would have wished he was here for pre-season, not just after four games.

“But we had to be a bit patient. Since he arrived he is also growing from game day to game day. He was excellent in this game.

“Fantastic goal, fantastic pass for the move that led to the penalty. Key for our offensive game and his workload in defence was so important. He is also a fighter on the pitch. I am not sure if you recognised it or not but he dislocated his finger in the second half.

“Our physios had to put it back and he was in a lot of pain but he just wanted it taped up to play on. He showed so much heart and he is already a talisman for us. Great in the dressing room. A pretty emotional player.

“Still perhaps there with space for improvement. He is a young player and of course he makes some mistakes but a fantastic piece of business from Stuart Webber and he is a pretty important player.”