Saints' Jason Dodd felt Norwich should have been reduced to 10 men as his side slumped to their 12th defeat of the season.
Saints boss unhappy with Doherty decision
Southampton caretaker boss Jason Doddclaimed Norwich should have been reduced to 10 men as his side slumped to their 12th defeat of the season with a 1-0 defeat.
Dodd claimed Norwich defender Gary Doherty should have been sent off for handball in the 65th minute as they chased an equaliser after Ched Evans' opener.
Stern John missed the resulting penalty by blazing it five yards over the bar.
It was Southampton's second missed spot-kick in the last four days after Grzegorz Rasiak missed a penalty against League Two Bury in the FA Cup fourth round last Saturday.
Dodd said: "You never like to see a player sent-off but when you break the rules by handling a ball in the area and stopping someone scoring a goal then surely that is a sending-off offence.
"I felt the referee was weak and he should have sent the player off."
Dodd was pleased with his side's battling performance and reckons if they had the rub of the green they would have won the game.
Dodd said: "We set off with an attacking formation tonight and I was pleased with the way the players dealt with the new system.
"We got into them from the start and created a lot of chances but unfortunately we couldn't take them."
Southampton hit the woodwork four times as they fell victim to a smash and grab raid by Norwich.
Missed
Polish striker Rasiak hit the post in the seventh minute and again in the 54th minute.
Rudi Skacel hit the post with a fiercely struck free-kick just before the break and defender Andrew Davies hit the bar in the first half with a looping right-footed shot.
Norwich grabbed their winner in first-half injury-time through on-loan Manchester City striker Evans.
Midfielder Lee Croft picked out Evans inside the penalty area and he fired a right-footed shot into the top right-hand corner of the net.
Southampton missed a glorious chance to equalise when John missed his penalty.
Norwich boss
Glenn Roeder reckoned his side were lucky to get the win, but claimed they had been done out of winning games when they had played better earlier in the season.
He also insisted his players should not be embarrassed about taking the points with an ill-deserved victory.
Roeder said: "The players shouldn't begrudge getting all three points when we were second best.
"We created chances in the first half but Southampton would probably feel they should have won the game because of they amount of chances they missed.
"We played very well in patches and the finish of the goal was top quality."
