NORWICH City boss Johannes Hoff Thorup was hugely impressed by Middlesbrough at Carrow Road - but even more so by the mentality of his players to battle back and salvage an unlikely draw.

Whereas Michael Carrick disagreed with the suggestion that Tommy Conway's missed penalty at 3-1 was a turning point, Thorup felt there was "definitely" a momentum swing after the spot-kick.

And while the Norwich boss explained the tactical elements that disappointed him in the first half and tweaks he made at the break, he said the Canaries called on "heart and passion" to fight back for a point.

Norwich led early on thanks to Borja Sainz's stunner but Boro took control with Conway hitting a brace and Finn Azaz adding a third on the stroke of half-time.

Boro were in control for the first half of the second period and had the chance to wrap up the points when Riley McGree went down in the box, but Conway's penalty was saved by George Long which sparked a comeback.

Sainz hit a brilliant second before Seny Dieng made a mess of a Kellen Fisher cross that caught Boro's keeper out at the front post.

"It was two very good teams playing against each other, I would say," said Thorup.

"Middlesbrough did so many things very, very good. A very high level. We knew there would be moment in the games where we would have to suffer and defend. But we also knew if we could create some moments then we could be on top.

"That was the game overall - the momentum switched so often. There are many small details for us within the game and George’s penalty save is definitely one of them. I’m so impressed with the mentality of the group.

"To deal with half-time and still have so much ambition and communication. The attitude was, ‘how can we attack the second half to get a result out of this?’ Instead of blaming each other. We can talk about tactics all day, but if you don’t bring heart and passion to games then you have no chance."

RECOMMENDED READING:

Boro's best player was Ben Doak, who caused Norwich and Callum Doyle no end of problems, but Thorup defended his left-back.

He said: “He’s not the only one this season to have some difficult moments against him. That’s just how it is.

"We knew today we had to try and support him as much as possible and have as many situations two-v-one as possible."

Doak was withdrawn after Conway's missed penalty and the Liverpool loanee was sorely missed in the final stages as Norwich battled back.

Reflecting on the game as a whole, Thorup said: “We started well and got ourselves into some very good situations and moments. "We scored a beautiful goal but after that we invited them in.

"It’s a shame we give that first goal away and then in the last 20 minutes of the first half, we switch off in far too many situations. We are too passive and allow that transition after our corner to be a goal.

"It doesn’t matter who the team is, we should never allow ourselves to be too open in a situation like that. There are so many moments in that first half where we have to be better.

"Then again, such small margins - we could score a second goal just straight after theirs when Borja hits the post. We just had to keep on pushing and keep on going - that was the only thing I could expect.

"I told them [at half-time] it’s not important for us to score within the first five minutes. It was important we got into the game, found the rhythm and found the flow. I thought we were too direct in the first half, which opened up transition moments.

"Patience was the word for the boys at half-time. We asked them to bring a little more aggression in the duels too."