Town boss Mick McCarthy felt there was little in the Blues’ 2-0 East Anglian derby defeat to Norwich at Carrow Road aside from the Canaries' two goals.

“I don’t think there was a lot in the game,” the Blues boss said. “I certainly don’t think Norwich dominated the game, but they scored the two goals.

“The two goals were the difference, that’s generally the case if you score them both. But that was it.

“We lost the ball in midfield for the first one but I have to say it was good play from them.

“It took a deflection off one of our lads but the shot was unstoppable when he hit it, so you can’t do anything other than say that. It was a terrific strike.

“The second one, it took a deflection and I think Bart was going to save that. They were maybe a bit fortunate with that.

“We didn’t get any of that. We had a few scrambles and chances before half-time but it wasn’t our day in front of goal.”

Town’s best chance was Freddie Sears’s first-half effort, which John Ruddy did well to save.

“I’d say so," said McCarthy. “I thought Freddie did particularly well with it, he steadied himself and the way he’s been playing you’d expect him to slide it in, but it’s a great save that he made. I won’t give out to Freddie for a miss, that’s for sure.

“It was a great save, wasn’t it? He came out and smothered it. You’ve got to give the goalkeeper credit for that.”

While the Town boss was disappointed to lose the derby he says the game is only worth three points like any other match and it’s now important for his players to get back to winning ways as soon as possible.

“It doesn’t give us any more points or them any more points," he added. "It gives them the kudos, of course, and people don’t like that and I fully understand that about supporters. I’ve played in my own local derbies when I started as a kid.

“I know the importance of them and the importance for us now is to knuckle-down and win more games and finish at least in the play-offs. What are we, three off the top two? It’s there to be played for.”

McCarthy doesn’t expect the result to affect his players, who have bounced back from adversity on plenty of previous occasions.

“I don’t think it ever has,” he added. “As I keep saying, the lads have been brilliant all season.

“And I wonder, when you look at the squad of players that Norwich have got, the team that they’ve got, I wonder how many teams put it down as an away win when they’re coming down here. I don’t think there was a lot in the game but they’ve scored the two goals.”

He dismissed the suggestion that results elsewhere were a positive to take from the weekend: “I can’t do anything about them. If all the others lose all the rest of their games and we do we’ll still be in the same position.

“I don’t look for that [results elsewhere], I think in a really tough fixture we’ve played all right and we’ve just been beaten by the two goals. I’m not looking for a silver lining really when we’ve just lost.”

Despite the setback McCarthy insists that the Blues are still targeting a top-two finish: “Of course. Aim for that and if we end up in the play-offs we’ll have had a great season.

"And if we end up in the top two it might surprise you even more than if we end up in the top six.”

Norwich manager Alex Neil was pleased to win his first derby in charge of the Canaries: “It wasn’t the best game but the most important thing was that we’ve won it.

"We’ve won six in a row now, which is great. Now we just have to keep on winning.”

He added: “We’re third at the moment and we’ve given ourselves a real chance. The opportunity is there, we just have to go out and grasp it. It wasn’t in our own hands when I took over, now it is.”

Photo: Action Images

DrJeckyll added 13:20 - Mar 3 lot of crying on here, pathetic spineless bunch that they are. 12 games to go, 5 points of the top. thankfully Mick wont let the team drown in their own tears. and i agree, it was a 50/50 game with a wonder strike and a jammy deflection. all the top teams are stuttering at the moment and Norwich's little run could come to an end at just the wrong part of the season. 5 wins from our last twelve will guarantee a play off spot. i think that's manageable dont you?

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