ALEX Neil recognised the endeavour in his team even though they slipped to a late Emirates FA Cup defeat at Southampton.

Shane Long's goal in added time settled a tight replay in the hosts' favour as Neil's men exited the competition at the third round stage.

Injuries had left City's manager with limited options ahead of kick off and he praised his selected players after the final whistle.

"For the guys, and how much effort they put in - we had guys playing out of position and we didn't have any fit central midfield players," Neil told Norwich City TV.

"I thought they worked extremely hard, we got as much as you'd want from them really.

"We'd spoken about the shape in real detail over the last couple of days. When you play Premier League opposition at their place, they're going to move the ball quickly.

"We had to be organised and all credit to the lads."

Focus will now immediately switch to Saturday's league game against Wolves at Carrow Road as the Canaries look to climb back up the Sky Bet Championship table.

Their boss added: "I didn't make any apologies or try to deflect away from the fact that the league is the most important thing for us.

"We need to make sure we go and win on Saturday. I would like to think we'd get some players back.

"I can't go into specifics on who that is, but I'm hoping it's not going to be as bad as this game."

ALEX NEIL: THEY WORKED EXTREMELY HARD

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