Norwich City defender Ben Gibson was disappointed with his and the team’s performance in Tuesday’s 2-0 defeat at home to Aston Villa.
“More disappointing than the result is the performance,” he said. “We’ve lost the game, but we haven’t hit our levels and we’ve only got ourselves to blame. We didn’t deserve anything from it. We weren’t at the level we were at on the weekend against Manchester United when the performance warranted a result. We were better in the second half but you can’t give a team 45 minutes to get going. We looked lethargic and didn’t get close enough to people. That’s to a man, every single one of us including myself. We must do better, put it behind us quickly and get ready for the weekend.
“We have a few injuries a bit of COVID but I think every team has got that at this stage of the season, so we don’t make excuses. We have a good team and a good squad for a reason. That wasn’t good enough tonight and we’ve got to do better and be intense. For 30 minutes in the second half we looked like we could cause them problems and were in the game and we fought, but we took too long to get going and that’s not acceptable.”
After being sidelined for nearly two years, the return of Sam Byram during Tuesday’s game was one small positive to take. His recovery is something the team can take inspiration from, Gibson says.
“Sam was fantastic in a role that’s unfamiliar to him in front of the back four, so fair play to him. I’m absolutely delighted for him because he’s a great lad who has worked so hard and had such a tough time. He’s still a top player so we welcome him back with open arms. His mentality is an example for what we need when times get hard - to fight, stick together and get out of it.”
Gibson also commented on the role Jacob Sorensen is playing in the team after his recent return to action.
“He’s a dream,” he said. “His temperament is fantastic. You could put him in anywhere and he gets on with it. He’s a great lad, a great player and he’ll be looking to take his opportunity because he worked hard for a long time. He had a run of games last season at left-back, which isn’t his natural position, and did really well. He hasn’t had a lot of game time so it’s a huge opportunity for him and he’ll take it in his stride.”
Looking ahead, City will aim to move on quickly to prepare for Saturday’s game at West Ham United.
“We have to recover quick, analyse why we weren’t at the levels we were at on the weekend and make sure that we don’t repeat that,” Gibson said. “What we have been doing should have got us more points than it has in that spell. The performances have been good but we’ve lacked that little bit of quality at times. We’ve got to be resolute defensively, add that quality in possession going forward and we believe it will change.
“We’ve been written off many times this season by every man and their dog and no doubt after tonight we’ll get written off again. That’s no problem, we’ll roll our sleeves up and face the challenge head on. If we replicate the run of form that we had, we can put a run together and be looking up.”