DAVID CUFFLEY Manager Peter Grant was angry on two counts after the Canaries suffered their sixth home defeat of the season. Grant had harsh words for the match officials and his own players after Derby won 2-1 with two David Jones goals at Carrow Road to go top of the Coca-Cola Championship.

DAVID CUFFLEY

Manager Peter Grant was angry on two counts after the Canaries suffered their sixth home defeat of the season.

Grant had harsh words for the match officials and his own players after Derby won 2-1 with two David Jones goals at Carrow Road to go top of the Coca-Cola Championship.

Referee Lee Probert disallowed a second-half goal from Chris Martin that would have put City 2-1 up after the linesman flagged.

“Angry is probably an understatement,” said Grant. “I'm angry at the decision - also angry at the players because the two things I spoke about at half-time were the two things that cost us goals.”

Asked whether he had spoken to the officials over the disallowed goal, Grant said: “The three or four of them are in together - they want to make sure that their story's right.

“I've complained about guys like this before and I've had letters sent to me telling me I'll be brought up in front of the FA. I'll be brought up in front of the FA, but I can guarantee I won't have an apology about the decision.

“The referee's decision was awful but I don't blame him, I blame the linesman.

“That was the earliest he flagged all night because he was hopeless.

“Chris Martin might well have been offside but as soon as that happened he should have brought play back, awarded us a free-kick and sent their defender off, because he was clearly the last man. I don't think there was any doubt about that.”

Grant was also less than amused at Derby 'keeper Stephen Bywater's reaction to being caught on the knee as Darren Huckerby challenged for a bouncing ball in the closing minutes.

“You see somebody cheating at the end there, lying down, and they're shouting at him to lie down and then they're expecting us to give them the ball back, and we give them the ball back, like idiots.

“I think these rules about kicking the ball back to the opposition are absolute rubbish.”

The City boss accepted that his side had performed well, but said it was no compensation for the scoreline.

He said: “Yes, we played well but we're losers. It doesn't matter how well you play. I've said that too often. To lose the goal we did at the start of the second half is embarrassing because I spoke about it at half-time.

“We were dropping too deep at throw-ins and if you give Jones a shot at the edge of the box, he'll score. People think I've got a crystal ball because that's exactly what happened. That's why we're sitting here with no points and that's why they're up there laughing up their sleeves. That's why they're top of the league and we're where we are.

“We deserved much more out of it but that's why they're sitting at the top of the league.”

Skipper Adam Drury was ruled out - “sick all afternoon” said Grant - but he felt they coped well in his absence.

“To be fair tonight we re-jigged it quickly and if we'd taken more care and done our job properly at the start of the second half, we'd have won the game. But that's the mentality we've got to bring here. I was here with as talented a squad as we've had in many years, but we never had that winning mentality, that strong desire, determinaton that even ordinary players have and that can be the difference between winning and losing. At important times of the game, we never showed that.

“I'm really frustrated, really angry with the way we lost the goals, but in the cold light of day when I look at the performance, I'll probably be quite happy with the performance.

“The throw-in for the goal lost us the game, because it got them back into the game.

“It was just as if it was a picture I'd taken before we went out for the second half and actually showed it to the players. You wouldn't believe it.”