Norwich 2 Saints 2

To say Mark Wotte has a bit of a job on his hands to keep Saints in the Championship is an understatement but at least he has given himself something to build on.

At the start of the three-game run against Barnsley, Doncaster and Norwich we mused that Saints couldn't afford to lose any of the games and needed seven points to give themselves light at the end of the tunnel.

As it has turned out they have taken four points and though they lost one they did manage to avoid what looked like being a second defeat at Carrow Road.

That is just as well as already the pressure on the team for their back-to-back home games is immense.

They are going to have to try and perform, and buck their desperate St Mary's form, in front of a sceptical crowd and one that may well be protesting against the board.

What you can never afford to do in football is be too high or too low and Wotte will be instilling just those sort of virtues after the Carrow Road fightback.

Whether Wotte can get any more out of the side than Jan Poortvliet remains to be seen - let's not forget Poortvliet won his last away game at Barnsley but it was then followed by a home defeat to Doncaster.

At least if Poortvliet had to leave then at least Saints have opted to go with consistency. They realistically weren't going to find the cash for a Nigel Pearson type as happened last season so it is at least somebody who knows the players.

And for all the calls that will inevitably come for another change if things don't go well maybe consistency is the best option.

Right now, no matter what people think about off the field events, Wotte needs support and to be given the rest of the season to try and save Saints. Whoever is in charge will only have the same group of players to work with and so good luck to him. What is clear is that he will be keen not to be seen to Poortvliet mark two.

That began immediately with the game at Norwich where he switched from Poortvliet's 4-2-1-2-1 system to a new 4-1-4-1 line-up.

And when that didn't work he was at least prepared to change things around and went to a 4-4-2 for the first time this season.

The first 20 minutes of the match passed almost without incident. Saints were noticeably playing a lot more direct than under Poortvliet with long balls and lobs into the corners.

Norwich actually weren't that dissimilar themselves and though they edged possession and kept Saints on the backfoot they rarely looked like opening them up. That changed for the first time on 28 minutes as Saints were temporarily down to ten men after Lee Holmes had hobbled off injured.

Wes Hoolahan spun in the box and fired in a shot that Kelvin Davis saved superbly diving down to his left. Norwich then started to squeeze the pressure on Saints and Davis had to make more routine saves from Ryan Bertrand, Jon Otsemobor and Jamie Cureton before they did take the lead on 39 minutes.

Cureton wriggled about in the box and found a yard to square the ball to the on running Mark Fotheringham whose sidefooted shot found the net for 1-0. Just as Saints were drawing breath they found themselves suddenly further behind.

Hoolahan picked up the ball and made a run from deep. Though he wasn't closed down there looked to be little danger as he looked up 35 yards out towards the left wing but he produced a simply stunning shot that flew past the helpless Davis and into the opposite top corner.

By this point Saints were understandably reeling and Norwich could have virtually wrapped it up before half time as first Cureton got through one-on-one but saw Davis save his shot and then Lloyd James hacked off the line as Gary Doherty headed a corner goalwards.

The half time switch to 4-4-2 and the introduction of Marek Saganowski reinvigorated Saints, as did the presence of Kayne McLaggon who had replaced Holmes.

It was McLaggon who first threatened Norwich with a shot just over the bar from 20 yards before he got Saints back into it on 57 minutes.

A corner came out to him and he drilled a low right footed shot into the area, it took a big deflection and left David Marshall wrong footed. Suddenly it was 2-1 and Saints had a bit of impetus as Norwich looked increasingly nervous.

Adam Lallana might have done better when he had a sight of goal but hit his shot at David Marshall before Saints got their equaliser on 78 minutes.

James whipped in a fantastic cross from deep on the right and found the head of Saganowski who was allowed the freedom of the area to pick his spot which was the bottom corner. They almost blew it in injury time when a breakdown in communication saw Davis collide with a defender and Darel Russell loop a header back towards goal but Jason Euell got back to head off the line.

However Saints weren't to be denied their point and, though it was probably not exactly the start Wotte had hoped for, there is at least something to be taken from the match.