Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Paul Lambert has praised the effort of his side after they were forced to play the final 20 minutes with 10 men in their 3-1 defeat at Norwich City.
With the match poised at 1-1, goalkeeper Carl Ikeme was given his marching orders in the 72nd minute for his reaction to the hosts being awarded a penalty.
With Lambert having already used his three substitutions, defender Matt Doherty was instead forced to take charge between the sticks, conceding Robbie Brady's spot kick before Johnny Howson added gloss to the scoreline in stoppage time.
"At 1-1 that game could have gone anywhere. We've been unfortunate we've lost our goalkeeper and the penalty," Lambert told reporters afterwards. "After the penalty it's difficult, you lose your goalkeeper... I've got to see it again on replay.
"But effort-wise, with 10 men, I can't fault them. I've not seen it, I need to have a look at it and see what's happened.
"I'd rather have a go than not. We still looked threatening with 10 men. I've no complaints. When we came back into it we looked ourselves.
"But we're up against a good team, I said that yesterday, they've just been relegated from the Premier League and have most of that team left. We're a young team aspiring to get out the league. We got beat, but we'll go again. There are some good points today, some bad points. You're beaten and disappointed but I can't fault the effort."
Next up for Lambert's men is a trip to Anfield to face Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool in the fourth round of the FA Cup next Saturday.
Neil Wilkes
