Norwich City boss Alex Neil praises captain Russell Martin for display

Norwich City manager Alex Neil paid tribute to captain Russell Martin after he rushed to Anfield following the birth of his third child to score the equaliser and earn his side a 1-1 draw against Liverpool.

The visitors were trailing 1-0 after the break thanks to Danny Ings' first goal in a Liverpool shirt and looked to be headed towards defeat.

Then just after the hour mark Martin expertly controlled a punched clearance from Simon Mignolet and lobbed the ball over the stranded goalkeeper and into the net.

The visitors defended bravely to earn and a point and frustrate the home side in front of an expectant Anfield faithful.

"He's (Martin) just had a baby boy this morning so it he had to leave the hotel late last night travel back down to Norwich, have his baby and then he got back on a flight with the owners and the directors to the game," explained Neil.

"He's produced a great display and got the equalising goal so I don't think the last 24 hours gets much better."

The Scot said he gave Martin the option of missing the game after such an emotional event, but Martin was determined to make the 4pm kick-off and lead the team out at Anfield.

"I left it in Russell's hand - he's the captain of the club and he knows that if he's not quite right, for the good of the team he wouldn't put himself forward," said Neil.

"I was confident when I spoke to him, he sounded sure he wanted to play, he was ready and I think the adrenaline of having a kid was a good thing - certainly the way he played it was an excellent thing."

The Carrow Road boss didn't just single out Martin for praise - he applauded the rest of his team for their brave and adventurous performance away to one of the Premier League's big guns.

"I thought we played really well. I think a lot of teams come and sit in, I don't think that was the case for us," he said.

"There were spells where Liverpool dominated the ball and we had to sit in and be tight, but I thought we offered a real threat going forward as well and had some chances in the game. I thought lads worked ever so hard and deserved something out of the match.

"Football is not just about what you can do on the ball, not just about playing nice pretty football, it's about having the mentality - never-say-die, never quit and making sure you do whatever to takes to make sure you don't get beat and this group has certainly got that."

Neil couldn't help but wonder what might have been had Matt Jarvis converted a cross from Nathan Redmond shortly after Norwich drew level.

"We had the chance and if it goes in it becomes even better for us and even more difficult for them," he said.

"Their goalie (Simon Mignolet) made a good save as did John Ruddy for us on quite a few occasions during the game.

"We did our best and we're happy we've come away with a point and I think it just shows the spirit of the group - we're playing well at the moment but we've got to continue that."