SAMMY Clingan says he felt the Canaries could have gone on to take three points at St Andrews, had it not been for the controversial circumstances surrounding Birmingham's opening goal.
Cameron Jerome gave the hosts the lead after 38 minutes, with a goal which the City players felt should have been disallowed as 'keeper David Marshall was left with a bloody nose after colliding with Jerome in the build-up.
Speaking to canaries.co.uk, Clingan said: "I thought the team played really well today from start to finish and I think we were unlucky not to win the game. To be fair, Birmingham had a few chances as well but I think we had better ones, and we were a bit unfortunate with the goal as well - 99 per cent of the time, the 'keeper gets the decision but today he didn't and thankfully we got the equaliser from myself.
"The 'keeper normally gets the decision but the referee didn't give it, and we just have to get on with it. We've had some decisions this season which have let us down, but we've got to get on with our game and hopefully pick up points as often as possible and try and get ourselves away from relegation."
Clingan's superb equalising free-kick in the 53rd minute secured the Canaries a well-earned point against promotion-chasing Birmingham. After David Mooney was brought down 25 yards from the Blues' goal, the Northern Irishman stepped up to curl a sweet effort past his international team-mate, 'keeper Maik Taylor.
"I knew once it left my foot that the 'keeper wasn't going to get across because he was so far across the goal," Clingan said. "I know Maik, he's a good 'keeper and I'll be meeting up with him next week so I'll give him a bit of stick. I think he'll hear me talking about it all next week, but it was just nice to get the goal - I don't get that many and it was nice in an important game.
"It was a bit windy and I knew it would go over the wall if I got a bit of pace on it, and thankfully it worked."
Reflecting on Saturday's clash, the City midfielder told First News the travelling Canary faithful had given the Norwich side a massive boost of confidence: "I think the fans were incredible, even when we were warming up we knew the fans were going to get behind us right from the start. It was great to score in front of them and go over and celebrate with them. To see all those yellow jerseys there, all the lads saw that and we upped our performance.
"It's not nice being down at the end of the table, especially in the relegation zone so I think the lads will be going away with a lot of confidence from this game. We've shown we can compete with the best teams in the league - we've competed with Wolves and Birmingham on two occasions so we've just got to look forward to the Sheffield Wednesday game and hopefully we can take three points from there."
He continued: "It just shows the lads are digging deep for each other, and there's a great camaraderie in the camp. We know it's going to be tough until the end of the season, but as I've said before we feel confident - let's have a break now and come back refreshed for the Sheffield Wednesday game."
