Some of Norwich City's young hopefuls were taught a lesson at Thetford Town last night as the club's under-21 side were dumped out of the Norfolk Senior Cup.

The Thurlow Nunn Premier Division side won the fourth-round tie 1-0 at Mundford Road, thanks to a 71st minute goal from substitute Ian Fancett.

Professional development coach Paul Wilkinson was once again in charge of the City U21s, during the continued absence of Dale Brooks due to ill-health.

And the former Sheffield Wednesday assistant manager admitted Thetford deserved the victory.

'No complaints at all, at the end of the day it was a tough game, we knew it was going to be a tough game. We knew when we come to these types of places teams raise their game because it's a fantastic opportunity for them,' Wilkinson said.

'To be fair, we had our chances, we didn't take them on the night and they took their opportunity.

'Nobody likes to lose a football match, the most important thing now is we've got to bounce back, we're at Fulham on Sunday and that's a good opportunity for us to get back on track.'

With a team featuring some of the club's FA Youth Cup winning side of 2013, including striker Carlton Morris and midfielder Cameron McGeehan, it was a disappointing result for the Canaries.

There were several frustrated players in yellow shirts as they failed to make their class tell on a difficult pitch, but Wilkinson is sure plenty of lessons were learned.

'It provided a different type of test for us and obviously we're disappointed with the result,' Wilkinson added. 'We've just been talking in there with the lads about that, sometimes you have to come to places like this, just like if it's with the first team in the FA Cup. These games are going to come around and you've still got to try to be brave enough to do the right thing.

'They're young and they get involved in the game and it's a good learning curve for them because they don't come up against this every week.'

Match report: Norwich City U21s knocked out of Norfolk Senior Cup by Thetford Town