Norwich caretaker manager Jim Duffy blamed referee Mike Jones after his side slid deeper into the Coca-Cola Championship relegation mire.An early surrender at Burnley allowed Steve Cotterill's men to race into a two-goal lead which condemned the struggling Canaries to a 2-1 defeat.

Norwich caretaker manager Jim Duffy blamed referee Mike Jones after his side slid deeper into the Coca-Cola Championship relegation mire.

An early surrender at Burnley allowed Steve Cotterill's men to race into a two-goal lead which condemned the struggling Canaries to a 2-1 defeat.

The visitors' pitiful resistance lasted just 51 seconds as an exhilarating Burnley counter-attack culminated in Robbie Blake heading home.

Three minutes later, the Clarets doubled their advantage courtesy of Andy Gray, who clinically dispatched his ninth goal of the season from the penalty spot after Jon Otsemobor looked to have fouled Blake.

The penalty decision angered Duffy, who said: "I didn't think it was a penalty.

"The referee gave a decision that baffles you as a manager and surprised even the Burnley players - and there was an incident when he should have given us a penalty for a challenge on Darren Huckerby.

"For 15 minutes after that we were really flat, but we ground ourselves back into it.

"We came back strongly in the second half but unfortunately it wasn't quite enough.

"I spoke to the referee afterwards and he said for the first incident that the player took his ankle away and for the second the Burnley player played the ball.

"I think you will find that if you watch the video then both of those decisions were highly contentious."

Norwich hit back through Chris Brown in the 68th minute but could not find an equaliser and this latest defeat means they have taken just one point from their last seven games.

Such relegation form looks certain to have put paid to any lingering hopes Duffy had of landing the job permanently.