BLACKBURN Rovers boss Gary Bowyer said he was ‘hugely disappointed’ after his side went down to a 2-1 defeat at home to high-flying Norwich City last night that left them closer to the relegation places than to the play-offs.

Rovers now find themselves 15 points from the top six and 13 from the bottom three after Bradley Johnson broke their hearts for the second time this season.

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Alex Baptiste opened the scoring in the 22nd minute but his inability to cut out a Wes Hoolahan cross led to Canaries substitute Cameron Jerome equalising in the 65th minute.

That was the way it stayed until six minutes from the end of normal time when Johnson, who scored the decisive strike when Norwich ran out 3-1 winners in August’s reverse clash between the teams, hammered home an unstoppable shot after Steven Whittaker was allowed to run across the box.

Bowyer, who lost Josh King to a hamstring injury just four minutes after coming on at half-time for Jordan Rhodes, said: “To lose the game in the manner that we did, to such a wonderful strike from the lad, and it’s not a fluke from him, as we experienced it late on down at Carrow Road.

“So the alarm bells were there for our boys but sometimes you have to put your hands up and say what a wonderful strike it was.

“It’s hugely disappointing for us because, again, we’ve put a huge amount of effort into the game.

“At 2-1 down the players were still fighting at the end, corners were going in and it didn’t quite drop for us at the death there.

“They are a fantastic team, they’ve got a great squad, and the manager who has just gone in there is doing a fantastic job, and they’ve got that grit and that winning mentality and you saw that in them.”

Rovers head to Bournemouth on Saturday and Sheffield Wednesday next Wednesday before their big FA Cup quarter-final clash at Liverpool on Sunday, March 8.

And Bowyer said: “We’ve got a game on Saturday and we’ve still got a lot of football to play.

“We take the positives from tonight and sometimes in football you’ve got to say it’s a wonder goal that’s beaten you and there’s very little you can do about that.

“We go again, we’ve got a great challenge ahead at Bournemouth on Saturday and then we go to Sheffield Wednesday.

“If we came in here tonight saying we got smashed I’d be the first to put my hands up.

“But it’s not through a lack of effort from the players, it’s just that little bit extra, that little of an edge that we need.

“And we’ve got to find it because we’ve got plenty of football left to play and we have got it in us.”

Norwich boss Alex Neil, who has led his side to seven victories in nine matches after taking over the club, said: “I think in terms of performance my team has played better but I think a lot of credit has to go to Blackburn.

“They were extremely difficult to break down and worked ever so hard and they have got a certain style of play that makes it difficult to play against.

“I thought we didn’t start the game particularly well, we moved the ball too slowly and then when they scored it kicked us into life without really creating too many chances.

“We had a wee chat at half-time and I thought they really rolled up their sleeves and showed how much it means to them to win the game and keep themselves in contention.”