Norwich boss Glenn Roeder paid tribute to his side after they beat Preston 1-0 to move eight points clear of the Championship relegation zone.A superb injury-time strike from midfielder Darel Russell took the rapidly improving Canaries to within seven points of a play-off position and had Roeder singing the praises of the men who have turned around the club's fortunes since he took over in October.

Norwich were six points adrift at the foot of the table when the current boss took charge but are now unbeaten in 11 matches and all of a sudden supporters are hoping for something more than just survival.

Roeder refused to be drawn on that subject but was happy to declare his admiration for the manner in which his side have improved out of all recognition.

He said: "From where we were at the end of October to be eight points clear of the relegation places now is a magnificent achievement and I can't praise the players highly enough.

"We have moved up to 38 points and that's down to a mixture of hard work, good play and tremendous team spirit.

"All the players here have played their part, including the new ones we have brought in and the challenge now is to continue moving upwards because there are still a lot of games to be played."

A match that looked to be heading for an instantly-forgettable goalless draw was settled in the first minute of injury time when Russell latched on to a flick-on by Dion Dublin and blasted home into the bottom left hand corner from just outside the penalty box.

It was a strike worthy of winning any game although Roeder acknowledged that his side had not been at their very best against the battling Lillywhites, who might have nicked it themselves moments earlier when substitute Brett Ormerod was denied by a good stop from keeper David Marshall.

"We drew 0-0 against Leicester when we had enough chances to have won two or three games let alone one so I suppose this evens it out a bit," said Roeder.

"We weren't at our best, especially in the first half, but we kept going and in the end I think we just about deserved it.

"We are not people to make excuses here and I will admit that we were way short of our best before the break.

"They didn't trouble us much but we didn't create much ourselves either and I was pleased to get them in at half-time and remind them what they should be doing.

"I told them to use the width of the pitch and get the ball wide and to be fair that's what they did.

"We were a lot more dangerous in the second half and created chances although it needed a wonderful strike at the end, with Darel's so-called weaker foot, to get us the win. It's a huge three points when you look at the table and the challenge now is to go on and build on this."

Roeder's opposite number Alan Irvine was bitterly disappointed to leave Carrow Road empty-handed.

"We didn't play as well as I would have liked but I was pleased with the way we defended and it looked like a game that had goalless draw written all over it", he said.

"To have lost the game like that is very harsh and Glenn Roeder said as much to me afterwards. That was nice of him but it's not really any consolation.

"Of all the defeats I have suffered since I took over as manager this has probably been the hardest one to take because I think we deserved a point for our efforts.

"It's strange because I still haven't drawn a game since I took over but that's one of those strange quirks that I really do think the run had ended today."

Of his side's performance Irvine added: "We didn't create as much as I would have liked but I thought we looked solid and their keeper didn't have too

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