CHRIS Hughton admitted after the 2-0 defeat to Everton on Saturday that he saw the best of his side when it was too late in the game.

Goals from Gareth Barry and Kevin Mirallas put the hosts in a commanding position, and even though City finished strongly – with Robert Snodgrass hitting the post – they couldn’t salvage anything from their trip to Goodison Park.

“I thought we were certainly better as the game went on – we had a real go to get back into the game,” said Hughton when speaking to canaries.co.uk after the final whistle.

“I don’t think anybody can accuse us of lying down or not giving ourselves an opportunity to get back in it – we even arguably had the best chance of the first half through Gary Hooper, but you know what an Everton side is going to be like. They keep possession very well.

“If I look at the two goals they’ve scored, they’re two great strikes but we should have done better with the first one.”

City’s manager elected to play Ricky van Wolfswinkel and Gary Hooper in a forward two, but despite relinquishing possession in the middle of the park, he insisted it was the correct system to deploy.

“I think the system that we played was on that gave us an opportunity to close them down quicker, and one that gave us an opportunity to get the ball up the park and keep it there,” he added.

“You can play an extra one in midfield and it means you have a bit more of possession, but then you’re not giving yourselves the opportunities to score that you would like.”

On potential transfer activity, Hughton commented: “We are working hard to make sure that, before this window finishes, we have the right players and the right squad to be able to compete.

“We’ve had injuries – it’s not something we’ve gone on about because it’s we’ve just tended to get on with it – but we have missed the likes of Jonny Howson and Anthony Pilkington.”

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