KEY midfielder David Norris refused to blame referee Dave Foster’s dreadful decision for the 3-0 Championship defeat at Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

KEY midfielder David Norris refused to blame referee Dave Foster’s dreadful decision for the 3-0 Championship defeat at Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

Foster awarded a highly dubious free-kick that led to a first goal that changed the complexion of a high tempo game.

“The linesman was a yard away and the referee 30 yards away - yet he over ruled his assistant,“ said Norris.

“But we should have defended better, and at the end of the day we had a chance to clear and failed to do so.

“But it was vital, and if we had scored first it could well have been a different result.

“Our confidence and belief regularly increases when we go ahead.

“I had one shot off the line and Grant Leadbitter had a shot, and we had other half chances.

“If they had gone in it would have been a different match.

“But Forest are up there for a reason, and you saw that on Saturday.

“They are where we want to be, and in the first half we gave a good account of ourselves.

“We felt comfortable and were containing them - and the crowd started to get on their backs.

“The way we were set up, and the way we played first half we did really well.

“The first goal put a spanner in the works and it was a shame we didn’t respond in the way that we should.”

Town will go above Doncaster and into the top half of the table if they beat the Yorkshire-based side at Portman Road on Saturday.

Norris added: “We will find out at the weekend whether this was a blip. We tend to react to defeats well.

“It was a better defeat than when lost to Watford and Plymouth. We were beaten by a good team after doing well for 47 minutes.

“Against Watford and Plymouth last month we were terrible.

“We‘re on a decent run and giving our fans hope for next season.

“If we finish the season strongly it will give us all belief.

“We’re heading in the right direction, and there’s something to look forward to.”