Norwich City manager Alex Neil has admitted that he got his tactics wrong and that his players "didn't compete well enough" in their 2-1 defeat at Barnsley on Saturday.
Neil made just one enforced change from the side that comprehensively beat Brentford 5-0 the week before but goals from Tom Bradshaw and Conor Hourihane were enough to hand the hosts all three points at Oakwell, condemning Neil's men to their fourth straight league defeat on the road.
"I looked at the performance the previous weekend. We had been searching for that win and it was our best performance of the season and if you make changes to that lineup and it doesn't work you look silly," Neil told The Pink Un.
"To be honest, I should not have let that affect my decision-making. I did, because of how well they played, and basically we got bullied in the first half. Physically, we didn't compete but after the break it was roles reversed. I thought physically we dominated them but it was too little, too late.
"We didn't do anywhere near enough and it is quite sad really that tactically or quality-wise it wasn't the problem. It was basically the fact we didn't compete well enough, which is hard to accept. I did it the last time we got promoted. I went very solid in the middle of the park. I haven't had a lot of those players available to me but, yes, going back to what was practical and worked for me the last time might be a course of action."
Norwich next host fellow promotion chasers Aston Villa at Carrow Road on Tuesday night.
Neil Wilkes
