Although naturally disappointed with the result against Preston North End, Norwich City goalkeeper Tim Krul says the Canaries need to stay positive and now move on to focus on their next game against Bolton Wanderers on Saturday.
The Canaries saw themselves 2-0 down after only 24 minutes at Deepdale and although they showed great spirit to try and get back into the game â a second half strike by Sean Maguire sealed Preston a 3-1 victory, Teemu Pukkiâs 93rd minute goal proving only a consolation for the visitors, who dropped to second in the table after Wednesday nightâs games.
Tim Krul told canaries.co.uk after the match: âItâs really frustrating because itâs a missed opportunity I think - but you canât start like we did.
âIn the changing room we were warned for a difficult night, everybody had to be on their game. I just donât think we started well at all against a team like this, who were hyped up to play against us. We know teams will go after us because weâre obviously challenging for the top spot â we just need to be better prepared. We need to take it on the chin, weâve been on an amazing run but we just need a reaction on Saturday now.â
Although 2-0 down at the break having also missed a penalty kick, City had a good start to the second half to try and get themselves back in the game. Former City âkeeper Declan Rudd was named man of the match having denied his former Club on numerous occasions with a string of saves.
âWe never stopped trying,â reflected Krul. âWeâve had a lot of chances in the second half. Obviously we missed a penalty. But if you go 2-1 I think we would have turned it around like we have been doing. Even in the second half we must have had four or five chances, some cleared off the line and a couple of good saves. It just wasnât meant to be tonight. We just have to accept it, be disappointed tonight, but thereâs a massive game on Saturday we have to win now.
âWe have to stay positive, weâre in a great position. Thereâs no point getting stressed out now. Weâve got some amazing opportunities coming up and itâs nice to play in three days again because we can turn it round again.
âLike I said Iâm not faulting the effort at all. I just think we needed to be a bit more clever in the first half. We werenât up for the races from the start, we show weâve got some great quality here but we need to show it from the first minute.â
He added; âSometimes we canât have it all. Weâve been on 13 unbeaten away, you are going to lose a couple but we still have 14 games to go, a massive opportunity and weâre in a great position â we could have not wished for a better position to be in at this stage of the league. Donât get too carried away with it we just need a reaction on Saturday.â