Midfielder Kenny McLean says that Norwich City's 3-1 defeat at the Riverside Stadium was a 'massive missed opportunity'.
Despite leading early in the game, Norwich would find themselves a goal down and a man down by the break.
Borja Sainz was dismissed after 30 minutes with the home side netting twice in 13 minutes after that.
"Missed opportunity. We knew it was a must-win game for us, we won't shy away from where we want to be," McLean explained.
"We knew where we could get to tonight. Unfortunately, we've come up short. It's a missed opportunity. That's all we can say about that. It was a really good start, had control of the game but circumstances changed and we found it difficult. They got into the game and it gave them confidence.
The change in circumstances in the first half, McLean says, offered Boro belief rather than diminishing the fight of the Canaries.
And the home side certainly made it count.
"It gave them a lot of belief, more than taking it away from us. We knew it was going to be tough but we were up for the fight, we were obviously going to give everything.
"But, again, I think it just gave them more belief, more confidence. They started playing, I don't think they'd done too much to that point. They've used the extra man to their advantage."
Next up is the visit of Rotherham United to Carrow Road on Saturday afternoon, offering Norwich a chance to bounce back immediately.
"That's all we can look at now. What's done is done. What happened tonight has cost us massively but there's absolutely nothing we can do about that game now," McLean added.
"We'll go home, recover, get ourselves right, and hopefully everyone is as fit and healthy as they can be for Saturday. It's a massive game. Our form at home has been excellent so it's about really sticking together and going again."