Norwich City head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup said his side performed poorly from minute one, as they were beaten 5-3 at home to Portsmouth in the Sky Bet Championship.
"It was a poor performance from minute one to minute 90," the Dane said. "It's not something that we cannot expect or people watching cannot expect from us.
"Even though we got back with the first goal and created some momentum, we had that chance with Kellen Fisher at the back post to make it 2-1.
"It still will not have been the case where it was a good football team out there today, because there were simply too many situations that we found hard to deal with."
The head coach also outlined what he expects from his players over the remainder of the season, with promotion and relegation both now impossible.
"I will have some conversations with players to make sure what we put there in the last three games of the season is players with that motivation to do whatever it takes to win a game in the Championship," he added.
"Was that the difference today? I don't know, it's always difficult to point out when it comes to motivation. Too many situations where we simply have to be better and stronger.
"There's been some tight and even games recently, but there's Plymouth away and today's game where we've been under pressure with those situations."