Frustrated Dean Smith felt Norwich City were at their very best in parts against Middlesbrough, but said his side paid the price for missing chances and conceding a "silly goal" in stoppage time.

Boro came from behind to win at Carrow Road, with Riley McGree and substitute Matt Crooks striking in the second half after Josh Sargent had fired the hosts ahead early on.

Smith claimed his side were denied a "definite penalty" when goalscorer Sargent went down after a challenge from Marcus Forss inside the box at the start of the second half when the game was 1-0.

Despite his frustrations at the result, Smith praised Boro and reiterated his pre-match claim that they are a better side than their league position suggests.

“Frustration is the overriding frustration because it was an inconsistent performance," said the Norwich boss.

"For 25 minutes it was some of the best football we’ve played this season and we had some big chances that we didn’t take as well.

"We caused them problems. And then, for whatever reason, 15 minutes either side of half-time we looked lethargic and looked like we lacked a little bit of energy and never got close to enough to causing them problems when they had the ball and to win it back. 

"I think that’s been one of the common themes since I’ve been at the club - we need to be better at getting the ball back, and that was the biggest problem today and my biggest frustration. We just showed it in spells. From 70 minutes onwards, I thought we’d go and get the winner. Max [Aarons] had a chance, Onel [Hernandez] has had two or three and we should be hitting the target and scoring.

"If we take our chances, we win the game comfortably because Angun [Gunn] didn’t have too many saves to make in all honesty. "Then we’ve given a silly goal away where we don’t do the fundamentals right, right at the end."

Smith added: “I feel we should have had a penalty at 1-0. It’s a definite penalty but we’ve only had one all season, so I won’t lose any sleep over it unfortunately.”

Smith and his side were booed off at the end of the game but the home boss says the reaction of fans was understandable.

He said: “The reaction at the end of the game I would expect at any stadium in the world when you concede a last-minute goal that loses you the game. It’s frustration and rightly so, because we had enough chances to win the game.

"Listen, I said before the game that Middlesbrough are in a bit of a false position and they’re better than what we see in the league table. So we knew it would be a tough game, and in all honesty, I didn’t expect us to create the quality chances that we did so readily. 

"So, it’s a disappointing result and weekend. If we weren’t going to win the game, we should never have lost it."

Given his praise for Boro, Smith was asked whether he thinks Michael Carrick's side will be in the mix for a top six finish come the end of the season.

He said: “I don’t know where they’ll finish this season, but when I say that about their false position I mean in terms of their stats. They don’t concede many big chances, but they haven’t taking their big chances. With the players they have, and from what I’ve seen, they look a good team."