Sky Sports Norwich City: Thorup on Forson table tennis challenge

Johannes Hoff Thorup credited a pre-match table tennis battle with Amankwah Forson for Norwich City’s spectacular stoppage-time brace over Coventry City.

Forson was pulled back into the fold after sliding down the pecking order following a summer arrival, and he produced two brilliant strikes to cancel out Milan van Ewijk’s opening. Thorup made a beeline for the 22-year-old Ghana international on the pitch after the final whistle and was later quizzed about the tone of their talk. “We played ping pong before the game, and I lost a lot. So I told him that the only method, or only reason, I did it was because I knew you’ll come into this game with confidence,” Thorup said. “Don’t tell him it’s a lie; I’m useless at table tennis. He’s definitely better than me. He goes ‘bang, bang’ and wins the game for us. He won two sets and then scored two goals.

“That will never be a fun moment, but I love that it is my responsibility, because I prefer to be the one who does it. And he’s been one of them for almost two months now, where he isn’t on the team and hasn’t started. “So those who are not in the starting lineup do not play very many minutes. As a coach, you still wish them the best and hope they have amazing times. “It’s so well earned for him that he has been battling a little with just the culture, lifestyle, and the new club, a new atmosphere, but to have that moment, I hope he really it treated it as something special.”

Read more on sportupdates.co.uk