Hughton refuses to blame Ruddy after defeat to Chelsea

Despite the goalkeeper allowing a weak strike from Eden Hazard creep under his body to give the Blues back their lead late on, the Canaries boss holds the whole team responsible

Norwich City manager Chris Hughton refused to blame John Ruddy after his error helped Chelsea claim a 3-1 win at Carrow Road on Sunday.

With the scores level at 1-1 entering the 85th minute, the Englishman let a weak Eden Hazard effort creep under his body to gift the Blues a second, before Willian completed the scoring a minute later.

But Hughton believes that the whole Norwich team should take responsibility for the goal, which came about courtesy of a lightning-quick counterattack.

"It's our corner and you look at the process from then," the Canaries boss told reporters. "I think there were other opportunities we had to do better, to clear it, to be stronger.

"Certainly now is not the time to apportion blame; it's a team effort and we had various sources to stop it before it even got to John.

"John's a top-quality keeper. I know that, during that first-half period, he had some difficulty with the sun. He's a top-class goalkeeper and has been excellent for us and I'm sure he'll continue to be."

Despite the disappointing result, Hughton praised his players' reaction to going behind just four minutes into the match, as Oscar put Chelsea ahead.

"After conceding a poor goal so early in the game and giving them that momentum, I don't think I could've asked for more effort and determination from the players to get back into the game," he added.

"I'm really disappointed. With the second goal, their power and pace on the counterattack got the better of us and, at 2-1, it becomes difficult."