Kenny McLean was left with conflicting emotions after Norwich City were unable to cash in on their second-half control against Leeds United on Wednesday night.

The Canaries were competitive and much-improved but lacked cutting edge in lengthy spells of possession in after the break.

Despite better work with the ball, they were unable to test Leeds keeper Illan Meslier and recorded just one effort on target. 

Leeds are the only side in the EFL with an unbeaten home record, and ex-City boss Daniel Farke praised the Canaries efforts after the full-time whistle.

Despite the positives, McLean was left to rue missed opportunities in the first half, namely from him and midfield partner Gabriel Sara, and bemoaned a lack of creativity in the second.  

“We deserved something, but it is fine saying that, and it means nothing really,” McLean reflected. “It’s a defeat and one that we will look back on and feel we could have taken something.

“When you miss your chances, and we missed a few – I had one in the first half and should have done so much better with it. Gabby (Sara) at the end of the first half as well.

“They are the moments that define the game because we had a lot of control and coming here and doing that is really tough because they are a really good team – but the fine moments have killed us.

“It’s disappointing because we did a lot of stuff well and what was asked of us – we just didn’t put the finishing touch on it. We didn’t have that final spark or quality.”

The defeat is City’s first of 2024 and comes after a run of encouraging results against Southampton, Hull and West Brom.

The Pink Un: Kenny McLean squandered a golden opportunity in the first half.Kenny McLean squandered a golden opportunity in the first half. (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd)

McLean is hoping City will reflect on the positives in the coming days and learn from their shortcomings to continue their push for the Championship’s top six.

“We’ve been on a good run despite a couple of tough games against teams that above us – that is what we need to be doing, beating teams above us, but unfortunately, we couldn’t tonight but these are a good team and are up there for a reason.

“We’ve shown how good we can be, but we’ve got nothing for it,” McLean said. “Going forward, we need to learn from it knowing that we can play that well but learn from the result.”