Under-23s coach Alan Neilson admitted that his team were not sharp enough in both boxes as Norwich City fell to a 2-0 defeat at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League 2 Division 2.
The defeat saw Norwich City Under-23s drop to fifth in the table. It is enough to guarantee them a play-off place, after the 26-game season came to an end, unless there is a freak result Southampton’s home game against Sunderland on Sunday where the Saints would need an 11-goal victory to overhaul the Canaries in the table.
Wolves took the lead in the opening minute of the match at Carrow Road, through Lee Harkin and then Hugo Bueno added a second on 45 minutes.
“Tonight, we were not sharp enough in both boxes,” admitted Alan. “They (Wolves) played a decent line and fair play to them they came, and they scored a goal early, which probably gave them a lift and allowed them to drop a little bit deeper. On the night we created a few chances but didn’t create enough with the players that we have got in the team.
“We know we can score goals but in the final third it wasn’t quite there tonight. For the majority of the season, it has been there. We are second leading goalscorers in the division. That shows that we can score goals but, fair play to Wolves, they did a good job and performed well.”
It means now that Norwich City will face Wolverhampton in a play-off semi-final match as the team bid for promotion to the Premier League 2 Division 2. However, Alan believes it is now Wolves who hold the advantage going into that game.
“We have played them twice, we have won one and now they have won one. With the third game, they have probably got more of the advantage because they have beaten us tonight and they performed well. We know we can perform better than we did, especially as a front three, and not letting them have sloppy goals as well.”