Lee Croft says he was shocked at the severity of Leicester City's mauling of the Canaries. The Norwich winger has been at the forefront of City's recent resurgence, establishing himself as the main character in Glenn Roeder's one-winged wonders formation.

Lee Croft says he was shocked at the severity of Leicester City's mauling of the Canaries.

The Norwich winger has been at the forefront of City's recent resurgence, establishing himself as the main character in Glenn Roeder's one-winged wonders formation.

But it all came to a juddering halt at the Walker's Stadium.

"Obviously we are disappointed," said Croft. "We didn't want to let the unbeaten run go and to do it in that fashion, to lose by a few goals and get a player sent off, it's disappointing.

"I think defensively we conceded a few sloppy goals, which isn't what we have been building our success on.

"We have been solid and you can make excuses about the pitch, you can make as many excuses as you want, but the fact is we just didn't perform.

"It has come as a shock because at the moment we don't expect to get beaten. But we have got to put this behind us now and continue and try and get back on another run, as we've just been on."

Croft found himself switching wings with James Henry after half an hour as Glenn Roeder tried to halt Leicester's growing domination - and City's lack of inventiveness going forward.

"Whatever job the gaffer wants me to do I'll do it, but we weren't as fluent as we have been and then obviously the sending off, which left us chasing shadows really.

"The lads dug in, but we are all disappointed and especially disappointed with the manner of the defeat."

In the space of a week City have gone from four to nine points adrift of Ipswich, who occupy the final play-off position.

"We know there are no easy games in this division," Croft added. "We still think we have the quality to be up there, but it is a consistency thing.

"We have been lucky enough to go on a great run. This could be a reality check."