Alex Neil will not tolerate a repeat of Gary O'Neil's red mist from any of his Norwich City players.

O'Neil's first-half dismissal in the 3-1 Premier League defeat at Stoke City proved costly in a game the Scot had targeted to continue their impressive recent league form.

Neil admits O'Neil's three-game ban for violent conduct is a double blow, with the experienced midfielder now unavailable for a key weekend trip to rivals Bournemouth.

'It is not something we condone and it does not help us,' he said. 'Listen, he is an experienced player and he knows he has done wrong. He has apologised to me and the lads and it was a bad decision from him. It won't do us any good to have an experienced player missing for the next three games.

'I felt we could get something but when you go down to 10 in the Premier League it is always so much more difficult. To be honest conceding one goal with 10 and coming back to equalise is tough. To then try and do that a second time is extremely hard. Bournemouth is a big one for us so we need to dust ourselves down and get ready for the weekend.'

Matt Jarvis made his long-awaited return from a knee injury in the second half at the Britannia as part of a double change with Nathan Redmond.

'Matt getting minutes under his belt was important. We need to get him up to speed,' said Neil. 'We put him and Nathan on because I just felt at that point we could use a bit of pace in the wide areas to go and counter Stoke and get ourselves higher up the pitch in those flanks.

'Wes (Hoolahan) and Vadis (Odjijda) at that point, I wouldn't say their biggest asset was their stamina and legs, so they had given me everything in their tanks and I was bringing on fresh players.'