Norwich on tight budget even if promoted

Norwich manager Nigel Worthington expects to have only limited transfer funds available should the club secure promotion to the FA Barclaycard Premiership.

But the former Northern Ireland international has shown it is possible to be successful on a tight budget.

Worthington saw his side clinch a place in the First Division play-off final last night after spending only a total of £1.6m (€2.6m) on half a dozen players.

Now they are set for Cardiff a week on Sunday and are a game away from returning to the top flight after a seven-year gap.

Worthington has brought about a remarkable change in the club’s fortunes since arriving in January last year when they were slumped in 20th spot.

The top flight is awash with money but he said: ‘‘If we remain in the First Division I will be looking at Bosman players.

‘‘If I get in the Premiership they (the board) might give me £500,000 to spend.

‘‘Not only that, our wage bill is a bare minimum compared to a club like Wolves.’’

Norwich, 3-1 ahead from the first leg, had to endure a nerve jangling last 14 minutes after Kevin Cooper powered in a 30-yard thunderbolt.

Paul Butler almost took the game into extra time, only to see his header drift wide of the post.

Considering they only made the play-offs on the last day of the season, Norwich’s progress is remarkable.

Worthington said: ‘‘I was confident of getting to the play-offs. Everyone worked very hard and we deserved to go through.

‘‘Every single one of those players has done their bit. There is one more hurdle to go before they can put their feet up.

‘‘We have come a long way in the last 15 months. We are 90 minutes away from being a Premiership side and what we have achieved is phenomenal.’’

For Wolves, however, it is another season of under-achievement after looking certainties for so long to secure automatic promotion.

Manager Dave Jones is due to meet chairman Sir Jack Hayward and chief executive Jez Moxey to reflect on a disappointing end to a campaign that looked so promising.

‘‘I will analyse the season with Jez and the board and see where we could have done better,’’ said the Wolves boss.

‘‘We got into a good strong position to get something from the season but we just missed it.

‘‘But at least there is a lot of progress in the club. We are all disappointed but we will regroup, start again and go on from there.’’

Wolves were made to pay for their slackness on Sunday when they failed to protect their lead.

‘‘We gave ourselves a mountain to climb by going two goals down in the first leg,’’ said Jones.

‘‘This defeat has really hurt but the players gave their all and never slackened off.

‘‘It was a superb goal by Cooper but we just couldn’t get the second one that we needed.’’