Norwich City captain Russell Martin becomes dad and scores against Liverpool

Norwich City captain Russell Martin could not hide his delight after witnessing the birth of his son and scoring the equaliser against Liverpool in the space of 24 hours.

The defender had to leave the team hotel on the eve of his team's trip to Anfield to support his wife in hospital as she went into labour.

After seeing his new child arrive safely he was straight on a flight to Merseyside with club owner Delia Smith to make the 4pm kick-off.

Unfazed by a lack of sleep, Martin was on hand to score a brilliant goal and cancel out Danny Ings' opener and earn Norwich City a point from a 1-1 draw.

"I had to go home from the hotel last night about 11pm. I made it for the birth of my son this morning and then shot back up on the plane with the directors and the owners," the skipper told Sky Sports.

"Got here (Anfield) late and we've ended up getting a great point and I've scored - it's a fantastic day, an emotional day and I'm delighted."

Martin will hog the headlines, but he was quick to praise his team-mates for their spirited performance, especially goalkeeper John Ruddy who was in inspired form between the sticks.

"I think we got what we deserved today. It was Immense effort from the lads, it's about the team and I'm over the moon," he added.

"Our performances all season have been right up there, apart from Southampton away [Norwich lost 3-0]. We've set out ourselves a standard that we need to maintain.

"John Ruddy was brilliant. At times when you're away from home and the way we play it asks a lot of us and we need him to produce and four or five times today he was excellent - he came out, made himself big, made some fantastic saves. Full credit to him, it's a tough job being a goalie."

Martin went on to herald the unity in the changing room as the newly-promoted side look to establish themselves in the Premier League.

"We've got lads in there that are willing to put in a real shift. We haven't got any superstars, we're a real team, real togetherness and we've shown that today," the Scotland international said.

"It's the oldest cliché in football, but we'll take it one game at a time. The manager has set us targets. We want to finish as high as possible - we haven't set our stall out to finish 17th, that's the wrong thing to do.

"We'll have a go against anyone and we'll give most teams a go when we're at it. We'll see where it takes us."