Press Conference | Harris post-Norwich
NORWICH REACTION | NEIL HARRIS
The Bluebirds fell to a 2-0 defeat against Norwich City on Saturday, with goals from Emi Buendía and Todd Cantwell extending the Canaries’ run at the top of the Championship table.
After the match, Cardiff City manager Neil Harris spoke to the press and media from Carrow Road, offering his thoughts on the afternoon’s disappointing outcome.
“I just felt the energy levels weren’t there.” Neil began. “We didn’t get close enough to people, and that half-a-yard can make such a massive difference against the top sides. When you are playing against good teams, you can’t give them opportunities like we did, especially at the start of the second half.
“I thought the ten minutes before half time was our best spell. It gave us belief at half time that we’d get back into the game, but we started the second half poorly with a couple of cheap turnovers.
“I can’t criticise the players for a lack of effort, not at all. But the goals summed us up, really. When you give those opportunities to players like they’ve got, even from 25 yards, they find the bottom corner.”
Having topped the division since November 21st, Norwich’s quality on Saturday afternoon was plain to see, said the City boss. He explained: “I think today was probably a fair assessment. As much as we weren’t at our levels, I think they showed their class as well. They have good players, and they are top of the league and six points clear for a reason. They are consistent, and find ways to win games. It’s for us to aspire to be at their quality.
“I think they have a more in-depth squad from being in the Premier League last season, and that’s what we aspire to get to. They’ve got some real experience but also some real energy in their play, and you can see that in the changes they could made.
“We’re capable of competing with the top sides. We’ve certainly seen it this season at times, and last season. That’s where we want to be ourselves.”
The fixtures come thick and fast after Christmas Day, and Neil was keen to move on from today’s disappointment and look ahead to the next run of matches, starting with Brentford on Boxing Day.
“There have been a lot of fixtures where we have been missing some key players, unfortunately. The sooner we can get players back fit, that will be key for us. I think this was a game too far.”
He concluded: “We’ve won five games from the seven which have fallen in this three-week period. We have got a foundation, and we’ve got three games before the turn of the year – Brentford, Wycombe and Rotherham – where I expect us to pick points up and be on track with the points total required to be a top six side.”
