Harrison Reed felt it was a hard-luck story for Norwich City in defeat at Cardiff – but acknowledged they didn’t help themselves either.
It’s now seven Championship games without a win for Daniel Farke’s Canaries, despite heading in at half-time with a 1-0 lead thanks to Marco Stiepermann’s first goal for the club.
The second half undid all of City’s good work, with two penalty concessions – only one of which was converted by Joe Ralls – helping Neil Warnock celebrate his 69th birthday with victory and leaving the Canaries in freefall.
“I think we do feel a little bit hard done-by after the first-half performance, which I thought was brilliant,” said Reed.
“Down to a tee, every player put in a great performance and we stuck to our game plan. We came out with a plan to keep it close, tight and compact in the second half – and within the first three or four minutes I think, the referee has made a poor decision and given a penalty against Ivo (Pinto) I think.
“I’ve seen it back in there and… ugh… it’s never been a penalty.
MORE: Daniel Farke reacts to another difficult day for Norwich City, this time in Cardiff
“Before the game we picked out (Sean) Morrison and (Sol) Bamba as key players to pick up and deal with in the box, so Ivo was rustling and wrestling with Morrison. He ran to the front post and went to spin, but as he spun Ivo sort of had his arm round him and it looked more dramatic than it is.
“When you see it back, you can see it’s not a penalty. If it is, there are going to be hundreds given in the Championship this year.
“If you look at it, it’s a tough decision. But then it’s one decision in the game and we thought we’d go again and could keep putting in a performance where we can go and win the game still.
“And then obviously for five to 10 minutes we were a bit open, we let the crowd into it and the momentum was with them. Then they hit us again and scored – it was a great block from Timm (Klose), it fell to (Junior) Hoilett and I don’t know if he meant it, but he’s put it in the far corner.”
MORE: Norwich City supporters react as winless run hits seven games after Cardiff defeat
It leaves City where they were before kick-off in the Championship table, with everyone around them playing on Saturday, and Reed conceding the good bits Norwich are delivering aren’t enough.
“That’s the feeling is at the moment,” added Reed. “We’re doing well in patches, but we’re not doing it for 90 minutes and I think that’s something we need to work on. We need to find the consistency.
“We are doing some good bits but we had two or three chances in the first half that we need to put away, and then it’s a different story in the second half.
“So yes, it’s not a great run we’re on at the moment. We’re working hard at the training ground, we’re trying to put it right and we can only thank the travelling fans for coming out and supporting us again, and we’ll look to put it right on Saturday (at home to Sheffield Wednesday).”
• For the latest Norwich City news and opinion follow Michael Bailey on the following channels…
Michael Bailey on Twitter @michaeljbailey
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here