Timm Klose admitted Norwich City felt the absence of their fans as they slumped to a damaging 3-0 defeat to Southampton last night.

The Canaries resumed their Premier League season after a three-month suspension due to the coronavirus pandemic but without spectators at Carrow Road.

Two goals inside five minutes early in the second half knocked the stuffing out of Daniel Farke’s side, with former City winger Nathan Redmond completing the win for the Saints in the 79th minute.

“We know how good the supporters are here and how positive they are,” Klose said. “Even if we are down one or two goals, they push us forward, which is fantastic, but unfortunately they couldn’t do that.

“You have to do it on your own but it’s difficult, they (Southampton) knew exactly how to defend and unfortunately we didn’t score.

“If we can finish one of our chances then we are back in the game. Even in the first half we could have gone in front and then it’s a different game. Now we sit here and talk about a loss.”

City will now have to wait for the results of their survival rivals today to see quite how damaging the loss is but it’s already clear that victory over Everton at home on Wednesday is absolutely essential.

“We looked okay for the first half, we did a lot of things right,” continued Klose, who played his first match since picking up a knee injury in August. “Of course we have to analyse a few things, even in the first half when they had a few chances but we defended well.

“Then in the second half to be 2-0 back so soon that kills your head unfortunately. You try to get back into the game and they know how to play after that, they knew we wanted to attack and they were smart, they did a good job.”

The Switzerland international wore the captain’s armband as he made his first league start since January 1, 2019, and wants his team-mates to take individual responsibility for the nightmare defeat.

He added: “Every player has to look at themselves and analyse what he has done wrong rather than point fingers at someone else.

“We have to do that, it’s hard but that’s how you learn and develop yourself, that’s how you get better.”

- We’ll be hosting a Zoom conference at midday today to discuss all the fallout from the Southampton game with City supporters. Click here to register.