Head coach Dean Smith admitted that it was a bitterly disappointing and chastening afternoon as Norwich City lost 4-0 at home to West Ham United.
He said his players were not good enough against the ball and gave away cheap goals as a result.
“It was bitterly disappointing, chastening in fact,” he said. “We want to go out of the league fighting, but we have given West Ham two goals. I thought there were periods of the game where we showed enough with the ball, but we never really created in the final third apart from late on when we gave Teemu (Pukki) a couple of chances.
“We obviously have had the goal chalked off, which was a little bit harsh but the goals that we gave away just sapped the energy out of us.
“We have got to be harder to play against without the ball that is for sure. You have got to sprint to put pressure on people. We cannot be jogging and ambling, and the third goal summed it up for me.
"They get a throw-in on the far side in front of the West Ham fans. It is in our defensive third and we have got players pulling their socks up as they are taking the throw-in and passing it back. That is not good enough for us if we want to move forward.”
With the team losing 3-0 at the break, Dean made two changes bringing on Lukas Rupp and Tony Springett, for his debut. Speaking about Springett, a graduate of the Norwich City Academy, Dean said he deserved his chance having impressed in training.
“He has done really well,” said Dean. “He is full of energy and will run all day. I felt that is what we needed at that time. We were 3-0 down and it becomes a bit of damage limitation. There are some big scores that can creep up on you in this league and we wanted a damage limitation exercise and to get some more athleticism on the pitch. I thought we did that with him, and he did alright for himself.”