Daniel Farke labelled Norwich City’s 4-1 friendly defeat to Champions League qualifiers Atalanta on Tuesday night a timely reminder of the huge step up in class ahead of their Premier League bow.

Todd Cantwell put the top flight new boys ahead at Carrow Road but Atalanta cashed in on a defensive mistake from Timm Klose to level before the break and then turned on the power to run out comfortable winners.

"What we have to learn is to be unbelievably effective. Small mistakes can make a difference," said Farke. "It is not enough to play on a top class level for 44 minutes and then switch off for 10 seconds.

"We have to take lots of self-confidence because we were the better side in the first half. But it is also important to use those good moments. The game should have been buried. When you watch how they were able to use our mistakes, the clinical, brutal nature of their finishing, it is a lesson for us.

"Of course pre-season is not about results, or we would be very annoyed.

"My feeling was our performance deserved more than a 4-1 defeat. I would say a nearly perfect performance in the first half. We scored a wonderful goal, created so many chances against a well-organised Italian side.

"We had four or five really big ones. We should be two or three up but then an unbelievably bad individual mistake in the final 10 seconds of the first half. They score, its 1-1 and it seems like a joke."

Grant Hanley missed the defeat, after limping out of the weekend friendly victory over Luton Town with a groin injury, but Farke expects the defender to be back in contention for the final tune up this Saturday against Toulouse.

The City head coach also delivered a positive injury bulletin on Alex Tettey, who does not require surgery on a groin injury.

"Good news. No surgery for Alex. We have to handle it in a predictable way, although we don't know how many days it will last," he said. "I am looking forward to having him back because in this type of game you would wish you could throw a defensive-minded player into the game.

"Grant stretched his groin at Luton, he has been out since, in terms of team training, but if everything works we should have him back on Thursday and available for the last pre-season game."