CHRIS LAKEY Canaries veteran Dion Dublin has admitted he was at fault for the goal which broke Norwich City hearts at the weekend.

CHRIS LAKEY

Canaries veteran Dion Dublin has admitted he was at fault for the goal which broke Norwich City hearts at the weekend.

The Canaries were heading for their second home of the season, thanks to Simon Lappin's goal, before an inexplicable change of mood allowed Cardiff to get back into the game and steal all three points after a 2-1 win.

Both Cardiff goals were the result of poor defending - and Dublin was in the thick of it each time.

But while he was simply unlucky with the equaliser, flicking on a cross which Peter Whittingham tucked away, he held his hands up for the winner, when the unmarked Roger Johnson was allowed the freedom of the penalty area to head home.

“The winning goal was my fault, nobody else's fault at all,” said the 38-year-old, who was otherwise immaculate at the heart of the defence where he took over playing and captaincy responsibilities from the injured Jason Shackell.

“It was my man who scored the goal, I was down to mark him and I didn't and I hold my hands up for that.”

But Dublin's admission tells only part of the story on a day when City sank to 20th in the early Championship table - not since a 1-0 home defeat by Sheffield Wednesday in October, 2005, have City been so low.

Manager Peter Grant kept the players in the dressing room for a lengthy “debate” after the game, and Dublin admitted the mood in the camp was low.

“It was not a very nice place to be, we let ourselves down again,” he said.

“It is a trend that Norwich has got to get out of. It is just very sombre - and frustrating to dominate a game for so long and lose the game 2-1. It is only down to us, down to the players and nobody else.”

Grant was furious that after an hour when City were as good as they have been for some time, they allowed Cardiff a route back into the game by losing all ambitions and playing on the back foot.

“It's concentration, the gaffer's right, it's the basics, seeing danger. I could give you a list of loads of things we can do to make ourselves better, but one of the main things I think is concentration really, taking responsibility - I am just frustrated, it is hard to put it into words,” said Dublin.

“I thought Lapp's goal was superb and I honestly thought we were in control for a long period of the game - but not long enough.”

Grant and his staff now have a fortnight to put matters right - with Dublin insisting the quality of the squad is up to scratch..

“I would imagine, and I would hope, there is going to be a lot of hard work to be done to rectify what we did wrong,” he said. “We have quality in the squad, it is just not coming together at the moment. I think everyone is happy with the size of the squad, the quality of the squad, we are just not in sync at the moment.

“Now is up to the manager and Jimmy Duffy. I thought we were very good in the first half but that is not good enough. I want to be able to speak to you guys and say what a great result, 90 minutes we were superb, but that is not one of Norwich's traits unfortunately. We need to get our heads down and get some wins - and we were at home, we lost 2-1. That is basics, it doesn't matter who we were playing - we were at home and we lost 2-1. It is very, very disappointing.”