The Czech international entered the fray in the 75th minute, but was replaced in stoppage time after the City boss judged that he was below the required physical level.
Clement took responsibility for midjudging Jurasek’s fitness after the game, believing he had pushed the 22-year-old into Championship action too early after his return from illness that saw him left out of their trip to Birmingham.
Being substituted after entering the game can be a humiliating moment for any player, but Clement feels Jurasek has responded correctly to the situation.
“He had a really mature reaction,” Clement said. “I heard it just the day after, but my performance staff said that the guys who played less than one half had to do runs after the game.
“He asked at the end to do more. Those are the reactions I want to get. We had to talk the day after about why I made the decision with videos also. It’s very clear for him. He understands.
“It’s also because of reasons that I made the decision about things that I haven’t spoken about yet towards the team. I made it clear to the whole team what I expect in every role, and what I missed there. He can kick on now.
“So I’m very positive about the mindset that he showed. It would have been easy to moan, be down or depressed after the change. I would even have understood at that moment. But he said that he wanted more and that he needed more physicality.
“Like I said to you guys, it was on me. Maybe it was too fast to bring him in after two training sessions, where he might have given a lot. That was not really what I expected of him. It’s about me also getting to know the players and where they are for the moment.”
Jurasek is part of a wider strategy that Norwich have adopted to sign in young talent to develop, mostly from overseas.
That has seen them suffer in the short term this season, but Clement maintains it is the right approach and urges patience for those new arrivals who are still adapting to life at Carrow Road – some after bigger-money deals.
“It’s not only here, but it’s also all over the world. More and more,” said Clement. “Also, because of the change of players in all the teams, it’s much faster than 20 to 30 years ago. The changing of managers and of sporting directors is the new thing you see in all the clubs. I think it has something to do with society that there’s less and less patience to build something.
Philippe Clement’s is urging people to give more time to Norwich City’s young recruits. (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd)
“But you see all the structurally good clubs in the world who, long-term, get results, they will have moments that they go down a bit, but they stick to the plans that they had, and they don’t throw away everything after every three, four months. It’s the same with the players.
“I also made transfers in my career. Not so much because I stayed 10 years in Brugge because I love the club and I love to stay there. But every time you need to adapt, you need time first to get these connections with the other players around you.
“In the club, your place in the hierarchy, in the club, your family need to adapt to everything. So, everybody needs time. For me, everybody needs at least one season to really get to know them as a club.
“You cannot say after six months that a player is not good enough. It’s not honest to make that decision because I’ve seen so many times in the past wrong decisions.”
In his press conference before Oxford, Clement used ex-City winger Christos Tzolis as an example of why players should not be judged prematurely. He gave another from his time coaching at Club Brugge that backs up his feeling that modern football rushes to cast people aside too quickly.
“I know you guys like stories. When I was assistant in Brugge, they bought Carlos Bacca. He played later on AC Milan and Villarreal. Really good teams,” he said. “In the beginning, he was struggling like hell. In the training, he didn’t move, and he didn’t know where to run.
“One moment, I was with the scouting team to discuss things, and the head coach came into the office, and he started to shout at them to say, ‘How can you guys bring a player in like that, because even my grandmother can play better football.’ He was mad, really mad about it. The coach left at the end of the season.
Colombian striker Carlos Bacca followed a similar path to Matej Jurasek at Club Brugge. (Image: PA Images)
“A new coach started, and the next year Carlos Bacca became top scorer, and he made, I think, the year after directly, a big transfer and he was a good player with Colombia. He scored a lot of goals.
“He was a good player, but he needed time to adapt. Also, to adapt to the kind of football that the manager at that moment asked, but also in life, the connection with the other players, the language, everything. So, you need to give players time.
“That’s the world of a manager and everybody knows who manages players. You cannot make an honest assessment after three or six months.
“So, let us work really hard, give them chances but, they need to show the right reactions. Otherwise, the story can be different, but people who give their best every day on the training ground will also get chances to show themselves on the pitch.”