Boss Joe Royle confirmed that the Blues will appeal Sito's red card against Norwich. The Town manager says he is unsure that there was any contact between the Spaniard and Canaries striker Kevin Lisbie in the 18th minute incident which all but handed the game to the visitors.

Royle said: "I thought it was a tangle of legs and it was hardly a scoring chance with the ball running through to the goalkeeper.

"I've seen it again in slow motion and I'm not sure if there was any contact at all. I had a word with the referee at half-time. He is a nice man and an honest man. He made the decision as he saw it. He looked long and hard at his linesman who was a long way away.

"We played some great football, although perhaps we lacked a cutting edge. There have been fine lines between us and Southampton and Norwich, both relegated from the Premiership, in our last two home matches.

"I was proud of my players but disappointed with the manner of the defeat. We started the match strongly but we are not getting the breaks, are we?

"Lewis Price made a great save in the first half but made a bit of a 'Horlicks' for their goal. There are a lot of positives to be gained and I can take heart from the performance in view of our list of injured players."

Norwich boss Nigel Worthington criticised his side's finishing after the game: "We could have had four or five in the first half but that's been our story all season.

"We stuck with it and came through. We created chances, passed the ball well and deserved the three points."

Worthington, perhaps unsurprisingly, thought the sending off of Sito was the right decision: "I don't think the referee had any option. He did what he had to do."

The Canaries manager explained that Kevin Lisbie was put off by the crowd prior to missing a chance in the first half: "A whistle went twice but Kevin should have stuck the ball in the net, but, of course, he could also have been booked for doing so."

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