We went from the sublime to the ridiculous – Laws

AUDIO: Burnley manager Brian Laws insisted Andrew Crofts' late equaliser for City should have been disallowed for handball – but saved his most stinging criticism for his own team.

The Clarets were seconds away from their first Championship away win of the season when Crofts struck, but Laws argued that his side's 2-0 interval lead should have been decisive.

He said: 'I can't blame the referee all the time. I think there has to be a large portion of blame on ourselves because you've just seen us go from the sublime to the ridiculous – in the second half we were a totally different team. I said this was going to be a major, major second half for us and we have to learn how to win the game.

'It's not about being pretty but about being professional and making sure we make the right decisions and keep the ball simple. I said 'Don't over-complicate it, keep doing what we were doing in the first half and they won't live with you'.

'But give credit to Norwich, they got right in our faces, didn't allow us time – they had to, otherwise this could have been a cricket score.'

He added: 'We will learn but we can't keep going on like that because we've got to start winning games away from home. I don't want it to become a monkey on our backs. We've got to start winning, surely.

'With performances like the first half we will, with performances like the second half we won't'.

Laws consulted referee Trevor Kettle straight after the game. He said: 'There was no maybe about it. There was a handball. It's quite clear, the evidence on the video.

'The lad's got his hand stuck right out, it's hit his forearm and yet the referee thinks it's his chest. Credit to him, he allowed me to go in, instead of waiting half an hour.

'There was no shouting at him or anything like that. I just wanted him to see the DVD. He had a look at it and he suggests it is still his chest.'