NORWICH City manager Alex Neil backed his side after they were beaten on penalties by Leeds United in the EFL Cup on Tuesday evening following a 2-2 draw after extra-time.

A pair of headers from Alex Pritchard and Nelson Oliveira had twice put the Canaries in front, the first in regulation time and the latter inside the additional 30 minutes with the scores level at 1-1.

However, on both occasions Leeds hit back to equalise, eventually forcing a shoot-out which they ultimately triumphed in.

Speaking to Norwich City TV after the game, Neil said: "I'm disappointed with the result, particularly with the way we played.

"I thought we had a lot of good performances. We dominated most of the game; in the second half they had a 20 minute spell which was probably the only stage we didn't dominate possession.

"The one thing I'd like to think is I'm really honest about how my team performs. I criticise them when I don't think they've performed well and I can't do that tonight.

"We deserved more than what happened."

Neil dismissed the lottery of penalties, believing City had the opportunities to secure their passage into the quarter-finals before spot-kicks were required.

"We needed to win the match beforehand, and should have won the match beforehand," he added.

"Two incredible errors defensively cost us the game. At the moment we're making errors in crucial times in games which we're getting punished for.

"It's not a hard luck story. It's about making sure players are concentrating and doing the right things at the right times.

"We had some real good performances across the piece but ultimately we didn't win."

ALEX NEIL: CAN'T FAULT THE PERFORMANCE

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