Norwich boss David Wagner said he had the feeling his team wanted the derby victory more following the Canaries’ 1-0 defeat of the Blues at Carrow Road.

Marcelino Nunez’s 39th-minute goal proved decisive as Town suffered yet another disappointment in the East Anglian derby.

“I’ve said in the past after our home games that the atmosphere was great or fantastic, this was not the truth,” Wagner said. “Today it was fantastic and great.

“Today it was outstanding, the best since I’m here in charge and everyone has seen what kind of a big influence this has on the big tackles and the 50/50 challenges where, at the end of the day, my players were better.

“I had the feeling they wanted it more, especially in the 50/50 challenges. The workload that they put into the shift, the fighting spirit, the attitude was unbelievable, top class as well.

“They’ve beaten the league leaders, your biggest rivals, deserved from my point of view because we had the clearer-cut chances, second half especially on the counter we were a real threat.

“It took until [Conor] Chaplin’s cutback situation until they had the first chance, a team which has scored so many goals this season.

“To still be in the game and be calm and do your job after they made their super-strength substitutions, which they always have done, was top class.

“A top performance. The only thing was that we should have killed the game earlier. This is maybe something that we can criticise if we like to, but to be fair I don’t like to criticise anything today.

“We said this before, today it’s about us, it’s a league leader, yes they are offensively top-class, playing good football, but let’s make sure it’s about us, about how we play the game, how we approach the game and it’s about us - we need points as well, we have targets as well and this is what the players wanted to show.

“To be fair, there was a big belief in the dressing room before kick-off and to bounce back after not a good performance against Leicester [as they lost 3-1 on Monday] in this manner is top class. A great afternoon.”

Regarding the incidents in the first half where Axel Tuanzebe was penalised and booked following a challenge with Josh Sargent and one where Sam Morsy wasn’t, both just outside the penalty area, Wagner said: “The first one, first half, I’m not quite sure if this was a foul.

“Second half, for me it was a crystal clear penalty and a red card. This is how I’ve seen it from my perspective but I know the referee has a different angle, a different view. I’m not sure if I’m right, but this is how I’ve seen it. But, to be fair, I think the referee has done in general, apart from these two situations, which I’ve seen different, but I haven’t seen it back, I think the referee has done a very good job.”

Photo: TWTD

BlueInBerks added 16:58 - Apr 6 He's not wrong
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Westy added 17:02 - Apr 6 Sorry to say I agree with him. I said when we failed to beat Norwich at Portman Road that there was a lack of urgency and too pedestrian at times.
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tetchris added 17:07 - Apr 6 He’s right. This game wasn’t just a derby game, there was more to it than that. This was one of the biggest games in this clubs history with automatic promotion at stake and our players bottled it.
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hyperbrit added 17:09 - Apr 6 shocking really..they just flat arsed didn't want it
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NthQldITFC added 17:09 - Apr 6 With Leeds just losing I've almost forgotten about it already. We're what 20 odd points ahead of them and promotion is in own own hands again after an unfortunate blip. Get the Vitamin C into them and win the next two at home and we could be close.
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blueboy1981 added 17:10 - Apr 6 ……. and it showed too, for the duration of the Game !
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blueboy1981 added 17:15 - Apr 6 Credit where due - Wagner is spot on with that. No point in Denial !
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Blue_In_Boston added 17:21 - Apr 6 Sadly he's right. What a day to put in a half-hearted performance.
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slade1 added 17:22 - Apr 6 Wagner 100% correct. Anyway, lets all forget it now, Leeds lost, lets go again
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Lightningboy added 17:32 - Apr 6 They've been running their little yellow socks off to try & keep up with our promotion push - bless 'em. Always in our shadow.
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RegencyBlue added 17:33 - Apr 6 Hate myself for saying it but he’s absolutely spot on! We just never really turned up. No passion, no intensity, no obvious desire to win the game. We got what we deserved, nothing. How much this result hurts us will become clearer as time goes on, we’ve already got a get out of jail free card today with Leeds losing. One thing is for sure though, we will have to play a lot better than today for the final five games to get automatic.

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Len_Brennan added 17:50 - Apr 6 The better team on the day won, but also, the better manager ON THE DAY won, which was surprising - to be fair to Wagner, he did a number on us ... Today.
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carlo88 added 18:03 - Apr 6 Same as you lot last week at Leicester when you didn't seem to fancy it much either, wonder why..
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backwaywhen added 18:30 - Apr 6 It’s the desperation within the club (Nodge ) to keep their run going 15 years it gets on my chuff.
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Europablue added 18:42 - Apr 6 It does seem like Norwich care more about beating us or not losing to us than anything else. Our players were looking at 3 points lost with a chance to get the same number of points again in the next match. For them it seemed like a cup final. The thing is, it doesn't help getting too emotional. We play our best when we stick to the process. There is a big difference in the state of the game. Because they went ahead they didn't need to show skill they just needed to show grit. We were not good with our passing or control and that stopped us from making more chances. That had nothing to do with desire. I'd rather criticize the supporters (myself included) for making such a nervous atmosphere in the build up and in the stadium. We can't help feeling the pain of being so bad for many years, but this team do not need our baggage. As NthQldITFC said already, I'm over that loss already because we have one less game to play and still have things in our hands. If you could guarantee that Leeds and Leicester both lose, I would have taken a 1-0 loss to Norwich. I think a lot of our fans would switch places with Norwich in the league to get a win against them.

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pennblue added 20:41 - Apr 6 I think it worked in their favour that we just had a massive result against Southampton and they lost against Leicester, they needed that today. I think Norwich were just very good today, they pressed in numbers and made it hard for us. We were not on top form and a lot pf our passing was poor. Disappointing but if you said at the start of the day us and Leeds would lose i would have taken it as a derby game is always a leveller

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bobble added 23:24 - Apr 6 Leicester have to play west brom and saints ,,cant imagine they will get maximum pts from those 2, and may get no pts....we are still going up
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FrankMarshall added 01:12 - Apr 7 Wagner 100% correct. Amazing he's managed to keep the squad so motivated given the reaction of the fanbase to the squad. He's obviously installed the belief of "prove them wrong" which seems to pervade through every squad member. If they get 6th, they'll have a strong chance of promotion this season.
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hyperbrit added 02:03 - Apr 7 to be fair I think the both mental and physical exhaustion plated a part today.The 10 days off coming soon may be vital because it with give them a rest that they sorely need
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BrettenhamBlue added 02:32 - Apr 7 He's right. I feel that was our poorest performance in the last two seasons. A great shame as we have done so well up to this point. Two home wins now and six points badly needed in order to put things right. We were second best from start to finish and the away support was drowned out by the home fans. It felt like the whole stadium was for Norwich City. I feel automatic promotion is now vital, we just look exhausted and out of sorts. We rode our luck at times against Blackburn and Southampton but it didn't go for us at Carrow Road. Referee had a good game I thought. The Al-Hamadi foul was a foul but wasn't a penalty (outside the area) but apart from that he did a good job overall. Not easy to referee a match like that. Very different to the Portman Road game (I remember a really bad "red card" foul being ignored in the first 90 seconds of the match). Onwards and upwards. Need to focus on matching Leeds results now. I think Leeds will get 11 points from their remaining fixtures. We need 11 points also, starting with the next two home games.

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Dissboyitfc added 08:16 - Apr 7 He is right, and that is so sad, a fact we cant deny! For me the facts are we are punching and over achieving and for this reason i never ( normally) will have a bad thought or word against McKenna or the players, however i feel let down with the manner of the loss. I hope the players feel our pain, they deserve too and i am sure they do there is a real desire within the team to win and put in the required performance! Yesterdays performance really highlighted how much we miss Burns, Omari is a wonderfulm player and is best coming off the bench. We didnt lay a glove on them for the first 80/85 minutes. Thank fully not working in Norwich next week, some of the nastiness that has already come my way goes way beyond banter1 However lets finish on a positive, before the game a top 2 finish was in our hands and with Leeds losing it still is in our hands! 5 cup finals coming up.

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Eeyore added 08:27 - Apr 7 Yes, I think Norwich wanted it more. However, some poor refereeing in this one. Both ways, but majority of decisions went with home team. Clear free kick for Al Hamadi on edge if box. There is no way he would go down deliberately in that situation. Alex clearly made a great tackle and got the ball - obvious live and in replays. The clumsy shove on Hutch was a clear pen even though Hutch ‘played for it’ - outside the area a free kick would have been given by 100% of refs! Compare it to Chaplin’s comical fall-over that earned him a soft free kick in midfield. The only one that the ref spotted was Sargent’s attempt at cheating. That dive should have been a booking because the ref clearly saw that it was a dive and the replay confirmed it. Sargent successfully conned the ref for the free kick from which they scored. However Morsy grabbed his shorts after he started falling. I think that probably gave the ref an excuse to give it. Sargent reminded me of Grant Holt when he cheated Norwich to victory a few years ago. I think Ipswich fans wouldn’t tolerate a Norwich-style striker whose main attribute is impressive simulation skills.

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planetblue_2011 added 09:53 - Apr 7 Hate to say it but he’s right they definitely wanted it more!! Don’t know why we can’t raise our game against them?! Will we ever raise our game & beat them.
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KMcBlue added 12:03 - Apr 7 I'm baffled as to why they wanted it more... with us top of the league and with the best chance of beating Norwich for years
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PortmanTerrorist added 12:08 - Apr 7 We have struggled a couple of times recently when initially at least, the ref decides to let everything go early on. Wagner is right, but they should have had 3 or 4 yellows in first 10 minutes which would have changed everything. But he didn't and that then distorted his decisions for the rest of the match...like not booking Sam...even once. Frustrating performance, was always going to tough to raise ourselves again after Monday's extreme high, but we KNOW we will bounce back. COYB....this is ON

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