'We can do better' - Norwich City man ruing missed opportunity vs Leeds United ahead of Elland Road decider

Kenny McLean believes Norwich City's stalemate with Leeds United represents a missed opportunity for the Canaries. Norwich hosted the first leg of their Championship play-off semi-final against Leeds on Sunday but the two sides could only play out a 0-0 draw in the Carrow Road sunshine.

It was a game of few chances as both the Canaries and the Whites appeared reluctant when it came to committing numbers in attack and consequently, goalscoring opportunities were at a premium in East Anglia. It was Norwich who managed to get the most shots away, mustering six to Leeds' four, but they could only work Illan Meslier once, as a tame first half free-kick forced the Frenchman, who secured his 19th Championship clean of the season, into action.

Ultimately, neither Leeds nor Norwich were able to seize the advantage in the tie ahead of this Thursday's do or die second leg at Elland Road and McLean, who was linked with a move to Leeds last summer, believes the Norfolk outfit could have done more to take a lead to West Yorkshire.

"A little bit but we're not going to dwell on it," McLean told Sky Sports after the game when asked if his side had let an opportunity slip by them. "We can do better.

"We'll come in tomorrow, have a look at it and see what we can do. Obviously we wanted to take an advantage there, it's not the case but we're still well in the tie and it's one to look forward to."

He added: "It was a tough game. I think first legs, these games are always a bit cagey and there wasn't too many clear cut chances. All to play for in the second leg so it sets it up nicely.

“It's obviously a big game for both teams and we want the same prize. The second leg we'll look forward to it, we're still well in the game, we played decent enough but we can do better with the ball in the second half. We'll look at this game back, see what we can improve on and take out the positives."

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Leeds are the favourites to progress in the second leg, with some bookmakers pricing Leeds up as short as 1/2 to pick up the win they need at Elland Road to progress to Wembley Stadium and play either Southampton or West Bromwich Albion in the play-off final.

McLean is more than aware of how confident the Whites will feel as they prepare to take the tie back to West Yorkshire, but he insists Norwich have earned the right to travel with belief, too.

"We know how good Leeds can be, they're at home and they'll fancy their chances but we're a very good team as well," he said.