Don Goodman believes a change in playing style from Norwich City is the reason behind Teemu Pukki's goal-scoring tally being lower than it was last time in the Championship.

The flying Finn impressed many on arrival at Carrow Road with him helping to fire the Yellows back into the Premier League.

Of course, they were relegated last season and are looking to bounce back this time around, with him once again spearheading the attack.

However, they're not scoring as many as they were last time around in their title-winning campaign, and Pukki has 11 goals in the league.

A respectable total without doubt, of course, and he's still up near the sharp end in the Golden Boot race - though Ivan Toney is streaking ahead.

The Finn will need 18 goals from the remaining 18 games to match his 18/19 total of 29, however, and that might be a tough ask.

Speaking to the EFL Podcast by Sky Sports, meanwhile, Goodman believes a shift to more defensive solidity is the main reason behind Pukki's tally slightly dropping

“I think he’s suffering because the team are doing it differently.

“Last time they were in the Championship they blew teams away and scored goals for fun – ‘you

score three and we’ll score four’.

“That was their ethos – they scored 93 goals last time!

“This time so far they’ve scored 35 which is pretty low by their standard and given their attacking

quality, but defensively they’re much more solid.

“It’s a different dynamic, they’re doing it in a different way but I still expect them to be right at the top

there at the end of the season.”

The Verdict

It's a fair enough point from Goodman with Norwich obviously looking to be a little more measured and controlled in winning their football matches, but Pukki is far from out of form with a still good return so far in the league.

He might not match that 29 goal tally from a couple of seasons ago but he's still proving very effective and Norwich are going well, too, even if results recently have stuttered a bit.

Indeed, Goodman is right to suggest they'll be up there for the rest of the year.