Alex Neil admitted 2016 was a year to forget but wants a battling 0-0 draw at Brentford to signal a Championship fightback.

Cameron Jerome spurned a number of chances at Griffin Park before Robbie Brady was sent off in the closing stages for a sliding tackle on Ryan Woods. Neil is prepared to appeal the red card after labelling Brady's dismissal 'harsh'.

'Sometimes when you are not getting the rub of the green those decisions go against you,' said Neil. 'I have seen it back five or six times and Robbie and the lad Woods are going in to make the same challenge but at different angles. Robbie never raises his studs, he is never off the ground and he goes in with one foot. You can see his immediate reaction. Sometimes when you see those collisions one player will get up and stand over the other as if to say, 'take some of that', but Robbie immediately is looking for the ball and doesn't even know the player is lying down. I thought it was really harsh and not merited at all.

'I'm not quite sure if we can appeal or not. With the proximity to the next game I am not sure if that is possible but it is certainly something we will discuss.'

Neil had a one word answer to sum up Norwich's past 12 months.

'Disappointing,' he said, after initially opting for more industrial language. 'The one thing about football is you always have a chance to make it better. I will try to do that in the next game and win that one. I think my over-riding emotion is one of disappointment after this particular game. We deserved to win. We had five golden opportunities and with the quality we have in our squad you would expect them to be tucked away. We did more than enough to win the game.'