Dickens of a mess, City

DAVID CUFFLEY

City boss Peter Grant chose the title of a classic novel to sum up his side's home defeat at the hands of Cardiff.

“I think I could probably write the headlines for you - a tale of two cities, because that's what it was,” said Grant, after the Canaries went down 2-1 in a game they dominated for an hour.

What the Dickens they were doing in handing over three points was the question troubling the manager.

“I thought the first half was as well as we have played. We were on the front foot, we were positive in the things we did, we played probably 95 per cent of the first half in their half of the field - and then we just invited them back into the game,” he said.

“If we had done the basics well we would have won the game comfortably, because Cardiff didn't need to work to get the three points.

“We played the ball square so many times, we played the ball back so many times and we stopped being positive for probably the last 30 minutes.

“We have got to get that mentality to try and play Championship football at times. We try to be clever, try and just invite trouble on, playing square and back and Cardiff grew in confidence because we allowed them to grow in confidence. We won the game for Cardiff more than they won it themselves.

“We gave them it, we gave them the three points, it was down to our own play - inept at being able to assess the situation and how to win the game. And how to win the game sometimes takes basic Championship football and we just didn't do that in that period of the game.”

Substitute Peter Whittingham and defender Roger Johnson gave Cardiff victory, Johnson heading the winner from Whittingham's corner.

“It is quite incredible because I am standing there for maybe 15, 20 seconds and I'm looking on the pitch thinking, '6ft 4in, he's standing in the box' and I am thinking 'Surely somebody is going to pick him up'. And they stood - no, no, no. And then you get punished for it,” said Grant.