Emi Buendia joked that defeat to Bournemouth was 'probably the best loss in my life' as he savoured Norwich City's 'amazing' promotion.

The Argentine ace had given the Canaries the lead in just the fifth minute but the controversial sending off of City left-back Dimitris Giannoulis turned the game and the in-form Cherries worked their way to a 3-1 win.

Promotion had already been confirmed on Saturday afternoon though, thanks to both Swansea and Brentford dropping points, confirming the Canaries' return to the Premier League.

“It’s amazing," Buendia said, as the disappointment of defeat swiftly eased as the City players broke out the beers on the Carrow Road pitch to celebrate in front of the cameras.

"It was a really tough season for everyone but we achieved this and to get promoted again is brilliant for everyone.

“I think it is probably the best loss in my life!”

The leaders have the chance to bounce back from a 13-game unbeaten run coming to an end in perfect style, with title rivals Watford heading for Norfolk on Tuesday, when victory would confirm City as champions for the second time in three seasons.

“Because we work very well, we reached promotion with five games left, so this is amazing, continued Buendia.

“Obviously disappointed because we want to win every game and this team wants to reach 100 points.

“We are ambitious and hopefully we keep going because we have an important game on Tuesday.”

The 24-year-old's early close-range finish came from some clever play from Teemu Pukki, the player he has set up for so many goals during this season.

“It was very good and also the pass from Kenny (McLean) at the start of the play was great," the creative maestro added.

“Teemu scores a lot of goals but he is also really calm, his pass was amazing and it was easy for me to score.”

It took the former Getafe midfielder's stats for the campaign to a superb 13 goals and 15 assists.

“It’s been a really good season for me, in terms of goals and assists," Buendia concluded, having initially cut short his post-match interview to join the party, before returning as promised.

"I could help the team with these stats and the main thing was to get promoted again.”