Norwich sporting director Stuart Webber admits they accepted “being average too quickly" after being relegated this season.

The Canaries dropped back down to the Sky Bet Championship after once again failing to maintain their top-flight status, finishing bottom of the table.

A seemingly inevitable relegation was confirmed with four matches still to play, as Dean Smith and assistant Craig Shakespeare failed to turn things around at Carrow Road after taking over from former boss Daniel Farke in November.

"Our objective was clear – to try and stay in the Premier League – and we haven't achieved that, so there is no way to dress that up other than we have not been good enough," Webber said in an interview on the club's YouTube channel.

"We need to reflect, dust ourselves down and come back.

"We knew the size of the task, the task is huge. The Premier League is very, very unforgiving so we were under no doubt how tough it would be.

"Off the back of that pre-season and then the start, I have got to be honest, the belief through the whole club, the whole area, disappeared… and it became 'this is going to be tough to turn this around'.

"Did we make this place, Carrow Road, a tough place to come for opposition teams both on and off the pitch? No we didn't.

"We accepted being average too quickly and that's something we have to look at. It starts with us first and foremost and it probably ends with us."