Norwich City boss Neil Adams admitted the Canaries had let their standards drop after a 2-1 Championship defeat at Reading halted their recent revival.

The Canaries were second best at the Madejski Stadium as the Royals completed a league double which left City three points off the play-off spots in seventh place.

Bradley Johnson was adjudged to have held back Michael Hector to concede a first half spot kick despatched by Hal Robson-Kanu before Simon Cox profited from slack marking to put Steve Clarke's side in command prior to the interval.

Johnson's third goal in the past two days had a tinge of controversy after the referee prevented Reading from making a double substitution in the aftermath of an injury to Garath McCleary, but the Canaries failed to capitalise.

'We were so far off the pace it was like chalk and cheese from Boxing Day,' he said. 'From a position where we were scoring goals for fun and playing with confidence and quality we didn't have that today. Certainly the quality was lacking. It was not an easy pitch to play on but that is not me making excuses. We know we have to be better. That was a poor performance from us today. We had to do something at half-time. At 2-0 down you are chasing the game and time flashes by. We had to make a positive substitution to give ourselves any chance and we did that but if I am honest it didn't seem like we would go and win or draw the game.'

Royals' boss Clarke insisted his side were full value for the first win of his Reading reign since replacing Nigel Adkins.

'I thought we deserved to win the game. I'm really pleased with the squad, and there's more to come from them, he said. 'We had a sense of injustice after the referee's mistake, but the crowd really helped us home and we managed the game well. We are progressing well. First game a narrow defeat, then a draw and now a deserved victory.'