After Norwich City Under-23s led Southampton Under-23s 3-1 at half-time on Friday, coach Alan Neilson was disappointed to see his side concede twice in the second-half, despite the Canaries winning 4-3 in Premier League 2 Division Two.
“We started well with some really good goals,” he said, “but we were disappointed with the goals we conceded.
“In the second half, we didn’t really come out and perform. I don’t know if we thought it was going to be too easy, but we said to them afterwards that we’ve got to keep our standards.
“There will be times in games when you don’t have possession, but in the second half we weren’t good enough with or without the ball.”
After regular scorers Tom Dickson-Peters and Jonathan Rowe put City 2-0 up in eight minutes, Flynn Clarke got his second goal of the season.
“Flynn was playing a bit higher,” Neilson said. “We create chances and as long as we do that it’s good, but as a team we’ve got to be more solid without the ball, but that’s me nitpicking again.”
Rowe, Dickson-Peters and Jonathan Tomkinson had all recently been involved in City’s first-team squad, and Neilson hopes they can cement places in Dean Smith’s side.
“It’s great for them to go across,” he said. “They’ve got to keep on working hard. They deserve to go across there and if they keep pushing themselves to make themselves better every day, hopefully they’ll get a chance to go and stay there.”