Norwich City: Thorup on Sunderland ref calls and Gunn charge.

Following further disputed refereeing calls in Norwich City’s 2-1 Championship defeat at Sunderland, Johannes Hoff Thorup has urged officials not to pick up the phone this time.

City are still dealing with the fallout from their recent away loss to QPR, which resulted in Kenny McLean’s four-game ban and Angus Gunn’s ongoing FA misconduct case.

Thorup did, however, admit that he spoke with referees’ boss Kevin Friend, who believed that City were treated unfairly in certain important stages of the Loftus Road defeat.

The Dane had no objections to Jose Cordoba’s second yellow card at Sunderland, but felt a number of other decisions went against his team.

Borja Sainz received extra attention after being dragged back late on by a Sunderland player already on caution. Shane Duffy was likewise the victim of a high tackle that went unpunished.

Cordoba, Duffy’s center back partner, was cautioned by referee Leigh Doughty for a reckless tackle on Chris Rigg during the second half.

“I believe he can give it, of course, and he has opted to do so. Thorup expressed his desire for additional and alternative calls in various situations. “But it’s probably not worth discussing here because there were several major ones that he overlooked. I discussed it with Jose because he needs to be more cunning in situations like that and should not be given the opportunity to receive a second yellow card.

“And it also causes a slight structural difference, as we have to defend that set piece position immediately after, and they regrettably scored right from us. So it was such a big deal for us.

“I hope you see the same thing, and I hope the other people in the room do as well, because otherwise, I believe we have a problem.” Unfortunately for us right now, there are many elements over which we have no control, which is also, I would not say, stopping us from being good enough, but I believe it is a major factor in some parts of the game that are not in our favour.

“We spent some time with the guys officiating the game after this game because we simply need some answers and to talk about it. But we handled it in a courteous manner, and I wish them a Merry Christmas.

(Are you expecting another call from Mr Friend?) No, because I told them not to tell anyone to call me since I need to spend time with my staff. I can’t spend any more time apologizing.”

Gunn’s situation is expected to be decided before his Boxing Day return against Millwall. The accusation is believed to be for a kick at a substitutes’ electronic board as Scotland’s number one came down the tunnel at halftime.

“This is again another scenario over which we have no control. We don’t know what will happen. “We just have to wait and see,” Thorup stated. “We practice, and we bring in more than one goalie when we are preparing for games right now, as well as some other outfield positions.

“We can’t change it. It is beyond our control. So you just need to ensure that more than one goalie is fit and ready. The response we received was that they did not have time to deal with it before the weekend.

“He kicked something; I haven’t watched the video. However, the immediate impression was that there was some ambiguity about what they had seen. But let us wait and see.

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