"A problem" - Don Goodman sends clear transfer message to Norwich City and Johannes Hoff Thorup | OneFootball

The Canaries' issues at the back have seen them struggle to maintain a promotion push so far this season

EFL pundit Don Goodman believes Norwich City need to focus on recruiting defensive additions during the January transfer window, with the Canaries’ struggles at the back hampering their promotion push.

The Norfolk side currently sit four points outside of the play-off positions, with an inability to keep the opposition out seeing them struggle to gather any sort of momentum.

A 1-0 win over Luton Town on New Year’s Day was only the fourth time Johannes Hoff Thorup’s side had kept a clean sheet this season, with errors and frailties at the back working against a side that are potent when going forward.

With that in mind, Goodman is of the thinking that additions to the backline could be the difference between a second-half promotion push and mid-table mediocrity in the remainder of the campaign.

Don Goodman outlines Norwich City January priorities

City had one of the finest festive periods in the whole division, with victories over Millwall, Luton Town, and Coventry City backed up by a 1-1 draw with Queens Park Rangers, as the East Anglia side closed the gap on those with Premier League aspirations at the top of the table.

While top scorer Borja Sainz didn’t find the back of the net in those fixtures, the Spaniard’s goalscoring exploits have been a major blessing going forward this season, with 15 goals in 26 Championship games seeing him set the division alight in the early part of the campaign.

Nevertheless, a porous defence has often seen those talents go to waste, with a run between October and December seeing the Canaries concede twice in eight out of their nine fixtures, with lowly Plymouth Argyle also finding the back of the net once in the other fixture.

An injury to goalkeeper Angus Gunn didn’t help earlier in the campaign, with George Long struggling to maintain the standards between the sticks in his absence, but Goodman is in no two minds about where Thorup’s priorities need to lie in the coming weeks.

Speaking to Plejmo.com, the pundit said: “Norwich City have scored 43 goals this season, only Leeds United have scored more. They've got the most potent player in the Championship in Borja Sainz and Josh Sargent isn't too far away from returning, too. So, they haven't got too many problems at that end of the pitch.

"But they've let in 37 goals in 26 games, with just six teams in the league conceding more. That's a problem. Only Hull and Plymouth have kept fewer than Norwich's four clean sheets.

"Their four-game unbeaten run has edged them closer to the play-off spots again, so this window is crucial for City. The problem is they've only beaten one team in the top-half, a 4-1 win against Watford. That could be an indicator of where they are as a team at the moment.

"I think their recruitment should be focussed on players that will make them harder to beat, as we've seen a few costly goalkeeping and defensive errors during the first half of the campaign."

Norwich City’s defensive struggles are affecting Championship play-off push

There are shades of the 2018/19 Championship winning side about this City group, with an attacking philosophy resulting in the side throwing caution to the wind, and relying on a defensive line to mop up any issues at the back when needed.

That may work when you have Tim Krul donning the gloves, with Timm Klose and Christoph Zimmermann in front, but this current guise simply don’t have it in them to restrain the attacking talents in the second tier, and have been found out time and time again this season.

While Gunn [pictured] is a highly rated glovesman, the former Manchester City man has not covered himself in glory this season, with his 63.2% save percentage ranking among the lowest in the division as it stands, with only Plymouth Argyle’s Daniel Grimshaw (62.9%) and Middlesbrough’s Seny Dieng (55.3%) ranking below.

Performances from Gunn and Long have contributed towards the Norfolk side conceding more goals than expected, with FBRef estimating that a further 6.3 goals have been allowed than predicted this season, with only Coventry City (-7.1) measuring worse in that metric.

Compared to the high-flyers in the division, Norwich allow too many shots on target throughout a game, with 97 allowed this season, compared to the likes of Leeds United (52), Burnley (64) and Millwall (75), who have considerably better records at the back.

The front-foot, intense style of play can work wonders with the right players in the system, but at the moment Norwich continue to be found out when out of possession, meaning defensive additions are fundamental going forward, if they are to be serious about mounting another play-off push in the current campaign.