Norwich City supporters have been accused of having short memories by the man who masterminded a third straight home defeat for their side. Former Canaries youth team coach Adrian Boothroyd marked his first return to Carrow Road as a manager by guiding his up-and-coming Watford side to a thrilling 3-2 victory.

Norwich City supporters have been accused of having short memories by the man who masterminded a third straight home defeat for their side.

Former Canaries youth team coach Adrian Boothroyd marked his first return to Carrow Road as a manager by guiding his up-and-coming Watford side to a thrilling 3-2 victory - and showed just how much it meant to him when he ran a few yards on to the pitch to celebrate Matthew Spring's dramatic injury-time winner.

But he admitted that the jeers directed at opposite number Nigel Worthington when the final whistle sounded had taken some of the gloss off the occasion - and leapt to his former colleague's defence after the game.

Asked if he felt City still had what it took to finish in top six after dropping eight points off the pace, Boothroyd declared: “I certainly think Norwich have got a manager who has got what it takes to get them into the play-offs.

"I have got mixed emotions at the moment to be honest.

“I am delighted for my players because they all want to put themselves on the line for me and this team and this is a big win for them.

“But I must admit I was disappointed to hear some of the things that were being said about Nigel after the game.

“When he took over this club was in the mire and he turned it around. He got Norwich to the play-offs and then got them promoted and it seems one or two people have got very short memories.

“It disappoints me because I know one day I might have it myself. We have got expectations at our club now and you have got to deal with that.

“At the beginning of the season we were the also-rans and not even that really, we were relegation fodder. Now we are taking some scalps and people are taking some notice of us.”

Boothroyd felt his side were fortunate to come away from Carrow Road with all three points, but he had nothing but praise for the attitude of his players as they battled it out to take another significant step towards the Championship play-offs.

“I thought Norwich were the better team to be honest but we have that resolve about us now where we just won't lie down,” he said.

"We won't accept people getting on top of us, we just keep coming back. A lot of teams would have crumbled today but we kept battling away and went for the win - that's what we are all about.

“We had to sustain an awful lot of pressure towards the end but we stood firm - and I always knew we would get another chance ourselves at some stage.”

Watford have gone from relegation battlers to promotion chasers since Boothroyd took charge at the end of last season and the 34-year-old manager is delighted with the progress his side has made so far, even though he knows only too well that nothing has been achieved yet.

“We are light years away from where we were when I arrived,” he said. “I am blessed with good staff and players and those are the people that deserve the credit for this.

“The players are all improving and that includes the older ones. Look at Malky Mackay. He is a better player than he was last season because he is really pushing himself. Even at the age of 33 he wants to get better and those are the sort of people I want here.

“But it's just one game and it's far too early to start talking about promotion. All we've done so far is make sure we won't be relegated.”