Norwich City head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup has admitted that the mood in the dressing room was ‘different’ following their 2-1 defeat against Bristol City last night.
The Canaries have hit a run of poor form at the wrong time and suffered a poor loss against Sheffield Wednesday on Tuesday night. Goals from Borja Sainz and Ante Crnac saw Norwich head into the half time break with a two-goal lead, but the Owls hit back in the second half to secure a 3-2 win.
With the chance of securing a play-off place slipping away, the East Anglians needed three points against a team also challenging for a top six finish. However, Bristol City raced into a two-goal lead within the first 25 minutes.
Norwich had several chances to get back into the game but by the time Sainz finally found the back of the net, it was too little, too late for the away side. As a result, they sit 13th in the Championship, seven points off the play-offs with eight games remaining.
Thorup Positive Despite Defeat
It was another disappointing result for Norwich, who are now four games without a win. However, speaking to The Pink’Un after the game, Thorup admitted there was a big difference from the defeat against Sheffield Wednesday:
“Strange game in many ways. Just to go directly to it, the mood in the dressing room is also different compared to our game Tuesday night, where it was flat, it was frustrated, it was annoyed, it was all those negative feelings, especially based on the second half in that game.
“But it was a little bit different here, because I think in many ways, the players, they feel they gave it a try, and they actually did a lot of good things in the game.
“They created, I would say, actually, even more chances than you can expect away from home, also normally chances that we will score but it seems like we get really punished, really, really hard for the small mistakes we do in the game.
“The first goal tells the story. We make a mistake, a passing mistake in the final third of the pitch, and it ends with, of course, a brilliant finish, but we have to defend that situation. It’s something we definitely have to avoid. So that’s where we are, strange, strange in many ways.”
Writer’s View
Although it was a much improved performance, Thorup will still be bitterly disappointed with the result. They are fast running out of time and this result seemingly ends any hopes of reaching the play-offs. The upcoming international break offers Norwich an opportunity to regroup before one final push. A win over sixth-placed West Bromwich Albion in their next game would offer some much-needed belief.
