Jack Stacey admitted Norwich City must become more effective in the final third after their 1-0 defeat to Stoke City left them with three losses from their opening four league matches.
The Canaries enjoyed the greater share of possession and territory at the bet365 Stadium, but struggled to turn their control of the ball into sustained pressure or enough clear opportunities. Stoke’s more cautious approach frustrated Norwich, who were unable to find the decisive moment required to overturn the deficit.
For their 70pc of the ball in the first half, City had only five touches in Stoke's box. That pattern continued throughout the contest, with Norwich unable to unlock a compact home defence.
Stacey felt the hosts had adjusted their usual approach to sit deeper and protect the central areas, challenging Norwich to show greater sharpness and invention around the penalty area - which they were unable to do with consistency.
"Frustration and disappointment, I think. They started a little bit differently to how we expected, a little bit more defensive, I would say," City's right back told the Pink Un post-match.
"But in terms of position and shots, I think we probably would have had more of that. We have to expect that teams are going to do that against us. I guess that's probably a sign of respect that they changed how they did play.
"Going forward, we have to break those teams down a little bit better. We had, if I remember, a couple of really good chances. So maybe we should be able to take those chances, maybe create more clear-cut chances in the future.
"If we come up against that again, it's about taking it to the final third because that is where games are decided."
Norwich’s issue was not getting the ball into the final third, but it was their decision-making that proved costly in the decisive moments.
Stacey pointed to the need for more individual quality, speed of combination and variety in attacking areas when opponents deny space between the lines as they search for an uplift in results.
"It's difficult because there's not a lot of space in the final third," Stacey explained post-match. "You feel like going through the thirds, you have a lot of possession, you're breaking them down, but once it gets into that final third, they're very compact.
"Sometimes it takes a little bit of individual brilliance or, you know, a quick one-two tempo or something to break them down, which we didn't really have tonight.
"I think we can take heart from the play leading up to that and then just try and work on that final third."
Share