Norwich City 3-1 Ipswich - Manager Reaction

"I think we've got a lot more quality than the top two, it's just that we haven't got the same resilience and defensive nous.

Talking of Norwich's opener from Malky Mackay, Royle commented: "First and foremost I thought it was a poor decision, a home decision by the referee because there was never a foul in the first place.

"But from then on I can't argue with the fact that it was a poor piece of defending. We allowed their big centre half a free header and you just can't get away with that at this level. The player concerned (Shefki Kuqi) knows he has made a mistake.

"Then we went and conceded another one soon after and again it was poor marking from a set piece. That was very annoying after the way we dominated the match in the first half.

"I thought we played them off the park and would have been 2-0 up at the break had there been one less coat of paint on the woodwork.

"There was also a large slice of good fortune about their third goal because Huckerby's shot took a huge deflection off Georges Santos before going in. That sums up the sort of luck we've been having recently."

Meanwhile Canaries boss Nigel Worthington thought his side were very lucky to go in still level:  "For one reason or another we just didn't turn up in the first half.

"I couldn't really put my finger on why that was but we weren't putting in the necessary hard work and Ipswich could easily have been two goals up. Fortunately we had a little bit of luck - and in the second half you saw the real Norwich.

"One or two words were said at the break and the team went out there and showed tremendous character to record an excellent result for the club.

"It was a real game of two halves, but at the end of the day we won the game and that's all you can ask for at this stage of the season."