Fulham manager Martin Jol cut a frustrated figure despite watching his Fulham side end a three-game losing streak against Norwich.
The West Londoners headed into the game on the back of defeats to Aston Villa, Swansea and Manchester United and had to be on their toes to see off the Canaries 2-1 at Craven Cottage.
Clint Dempsey handed the Whites the lead after 107 seconds and the hosts had a two-goal advantage when Damien Duff netted in the 13th minute.
However, Fulham struggled to cope with Pavel Pogrebnyak's first-half injury and Norwich's tactical fluidity.
Aaron Wilbraham scored a deflected 77th-minute goal to ensure a nervy ending on the banks of the Thames, which frustrated manager Jol.
"I have to say I had mixed feelings after the game,'' the Dutchman said. "The first half we were well prepared for them and started off well.
"They changed their system all the time and they do that with a purpose. That was not easy to cope with but I thought we used the right tactics in the first half.
"There was a good balance between offensive and defensive play. As a matter of fact, we played against their reserves on Monday and we beat them 5-1 and they played in a similar way.
"In the second half they changed their formation and forced us to double-up on the flanks, go back and we couldn't get out of it.
"Pavel was not there, Andy Johnson was of course injured so we needed a bit of penetration.
"That was probably the reason we could not get out of it but I have to say if you have to defend, you have to defend.
"I could not change that in this game so I was fairly pleased in the end, although we didn't play in my style in the second half.
"Of course defenders are used to that in the last couple of years and I think they did tremendously well in that aspect.''
Fulham struggled to find an outlet after Pogrebnyak limped off in the 35th minute, even though replacement Alex Kacaniklic impressed on his debut.
Jol revealed the Russia international has injured his ankle and will find out more information on its severity in the coming days.
"Pavel went off with something to do with his former injury,'' he said. "He twisted his ankle again so for us it is vital for us that he is back in the next couple of games.
"I think in the next one or two days we will find out more. He made a tackle on the touchline and he hurt himself.
"Pavel is a number nine and the only other player I have there is a very young player in [Marcello] Trotta.
"I had to make a decision and put Dempsey up front and give Alex his debut.
"I think he did well but it would have helped if he had scored the third one [when he hit the bar four minutes into the second half].''
The game left Norwich manager Paul Lambert feeling hard done by but also proud of his side's efforts.
"We should have got something,'' he said. "We were immense in that second half.
"You can't give teams a two-goal head-start. It is a mountain to climb from there but the response was absolutely terrific.
"We went about it and tried to retrieve the game and the second half I thought the lads were excellent.
"They were poor goals to concede on our behalf. When you lose a goal really early it is the worst start you can get.
"There was another one not long after but after that, while we had given ourselves a lot to do, the performance in the second half especially was excellent.
"The great thing for me is that we never capitulated, which can happen when you lose two goals as early as that and being a young team.''