George Long bemoaned a fraught five minutes that cost Norwich City three valuable points against Stoke on Saturday. 

The Canaries took the lead on the stroke of half time courtesy of Ante Crnac's strike but lost all composure and structure in the five minutes that followed, allowing Million Manhoef to convert an equaliser against the run of play. 

City struggled to rediscover their levels after the interval and were forced to dig deep to leave the Bet365 Stadium with one point after Stoke turned the screw in the second period. 

Despite the frustration that City couldn't convert a productive first half into maximum points, Long could live with the draw in difficult conditions in Staffordshire. 

"This is a difficult place to come historically, but I thought that we played really well in the first half," the keeper said. "We kept the ball, dominated possession and took the lead, but then it was a sucker punch towards the end for them to equalise against the run of play.

"Sometimes you are at your most vulnerable when you've just scored because subconsciously you can take your foot off the gas because you think you're in a good position. We have to make sure that doesn't happen again and knuckle down after we score to try and make it two for us instead of being vulnerable at our end.

"These things happen. We came here for three points, but we'll take one and move on.

"The second half wasn't quite our best stuff away from home, especially given we've picked up some really good results in the last month or so. We're disappointed with how we played in the second half, but it's another point on the board."

Stoke had their shot-stopper Viktor Johansson to thank for preventing the game from slipping out of their grasp after two excellent saves to deny City duo Marcelino Nunez and Kenny McLean in quick succession during the first half. 

Viktor Johansson made a couple of fine saves to deny Norwich City.Viktor Johansson made a couple of fine saves to deny Norwich City. (Image: PA) As part of the goalkeeper's union, Long could appreciate his performance from the other end of the pitch. 

"Viktor made some brilliant saves, to be fair," Long reflected post-match. "From a goalkeeper's point of view, I was impressed with his crossing. It's often overlooked, but I thought we played well. 

"We could have been a couple of goals up, but he made some really important saves for them."