Canaries boss felt official was influenced by Town's returning fans with 'key decisions' going against his Norwich side

Norwich City boss Daniel Farke bemoaned the officiating from Darren England in last night’s 3-1 defeat to Luton believing the referee might have been influenced by the return of 1,000 Hatters supporters inside Kenilworth Road.

The Canaries chief was disappointed with four key decisions that he felt went against his side, the first a foul given against skipper Grant Hanley on James Collins which saw Town take a quick free kick, George Moncur curling home a beautiful opener in on 15 minutes.

Farke’s next issue was the lack of a red card shown to Hatters keeper James Shea after he brought down Przemyslaw Placheta in the box for a penalty converted by Emiliano Buendia just three minutes later.

Following that gripe, the German then criticised the decision to penalise Jacob Sorensen for shoving Jordan Clark and giving away the set-piece which Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall put on the heard of Matty Pearson for 2-1.

To round things off, the City chief also felt Hanley was unfortunate once more to give away spot-kick just moments after half time for handball, believing the defender had been impeded inside the area by Collins.

With fans allowed back at games for the first time this season, Farke thought it played a part on the night, as going through the calls, he said: “I don’t want to use any excuses, but I was asked before the game so often if the return of the supporters would influence us and our game, and if we would be nervous.

“I denied this, but I thought they had an influence today because with all respect, each of the key decisions was against us.

"When I think about the first goal we conceded, we pressed them high, they put the ball up front and we had a three against one overload, against Collins.

"I'm not sure if this was a foul, Grant Hanley against Collins, we had three against one, so why should he foul him?

"You could argue we could invest a bit more into defending that we didn’t give the referee a decision to make perhaps, but I’m not sure it was a foul.

“Free kick was given, 10 seconds later, he scores a world class goal, that he scores one time in his career.

“Second situation when we conceded a goal, I think it wasn’t a foul from Jacob.

"They turned around and went back, because they were asking for something, he gave a free kick and it’s one of the best free kick and set piece sides in the league.

"We went a bit away from our zonal defending in terms of defending Pearson, we went to man-to-man marking, but he scored.

“Third situation, our penalty, we were told before the season starts when the goalkeeper has no chance to get the ball, he just tries to disturb the running of the offensive player, even if it’s a penalty then it’s a red card.

"It could be that a yellow card is enough, I think he could also give a red card as the ball was clear away and there was no chance to play this, another key decision against us.

“And the fourth, Grant Hanley got a hit in his back, falls over, with falling over, he touched the ball with his hand, so with all respect, why would Grant Hanley fall in such a situation over when he can clear the ball?

“He didn’t give the foul, he gave the penalty, so all four key decisions were against us.

“It was a difficult away game anyway, but before all goals, with the key decisions, it could all be that each decision was right, but it could be that each decision would have gone our way.

"Then it could have been a comfortable win as we wouldn't have conceded one goal, it would have been a red card after our goal and we would travel back with whatever, four-nil, five-nil win and everyone would say it was a great performance.

"So this can influence a game and I got the feeling that each key decision went against us, the referee had his view and we have to accept this."

Although Farke was happy to see supporters back inside a ground for the first time this season, he believed it went against his side on this occasion, continuing: "I keep telling my players it’s 11 against 11, the same rules, it’s good that the fans are back, although it didn’t go in our favour today, this is what we want.

"We want some emotions and they can influence perhaps a few decisions, I don’t want to blame the supporters for this loss, it’s great that they’re around, so it's more like it should be.

"The referee shouldn't be influenced as much, so it’s a part of the game and we accept that, and want some decision we can talk about and argue.

"If you're on the wrong side of the decisions it's annoying and difficult to work against, but we want supporters back and it’s definitely a good thing.

“I try always to stay with class and not to moan that much, but there was a situation where Przemyslaw Placheta got a yellow card for a foul by the corner flag, there were a few lads in the corner that were moaning about it, it was a tactical foul.

"A few minutes later there was the same situation on the other side and there was nothing, so you have to ask the referee he was influenced by this, but again, no complaints.”

To finish off his complaints, Farke also hit out at the playing surface along with his side's own defending on the night, adding: "When you play against a side who is defending that deep, it’s not easy to open up between lines, and the pitch looks more like you should send some sheep on it or something like this, it’s not easy then to be absolutely tidy and clean.

“In our set-up and personal situation, it’s of course difficult to create a lot of chances to score many, may goals, especially in a tough away game, when congratulations to Luton, they gave a spirited performance and wanted to show a reaction after the Cardiff game.

"But we have to make sure that our defensive behaviour is spot on, so at the moment, we can't expect to travel to Luton and it would be great to score four, five goals, but sometimes to travel away with points, one goal has to be enough.

"We conceded three and that was the problem, we conceded too many goals and that was the reason why we have to travel back without any points."