CITY boss Peter Grant was relieved to see his side hold their nerve from the penalty spot after a jittery evening against Rochdale in the Carling Cup.

The Canaries needed spot kicks to overcome the League Two side, with David Marshall the hero as City won 4-3 on penalties.

The 22-year-old stopper was in fine form throughout the tie, and had it not been for his heroics in normal and extra time, the Canaries might well have followed Stoke in becoming the latest Championship casualty at Spotland in the competition.

All the same, Grant was pleased to make it through to the third round, especially after having to play the likes of defender Ian Murray when the defender was clearly less than 100 per cent fit with illness.

"Great credit to Rochdale, I thought they did ever so well," said Grant, who saw his team fall behind in the first half to a Glenn Murray strike before Dion Dublin levelled things. "But to be fair to the players they showed great guts.

"Ian Murray was struggling before the game but because of the Adam Drury situation I had to play him. He was coming out of his death bed and you could see that first half. He was like treading water.

"But he was determined to play but I had to take him out of his misery at half time. But we kept going when things weren't going for us.

"Probably the only bit of composure we showed in the full 120 minutes was the penalty kicks, so I'm very pleased with that."