Nigel Pearson refused to be downbeat despite defeat and admits his Bristol City side should have left Carrow Road with at least a point.
Individual errors proved costly in the first half when Teemu Pukki capitalised on two howlers from Kal Naismith at the back to give the Robins an early mountain to climb after 23 minutes.
Naismith missed a clearance from a long ball over the top for the opener before gifting the ball to Aaron Ramsey in the middle of the park who freed Pukki to put the Premier League hopefuls into a commanding lead.
But the overall result wasn't a fair reflection of the performance of the visitors who showed great character to dominate for long periods of the game. On paper, it was City's toughest test yet but the Robins proved they can mix it with the league's best despite narrowly falling short after Tommy Conway and Antoine Semenyo twice restored the deficit.
"We've played okay tonight, we've made mistakes which have cost us," Pearson said. "I suppose their clinical edge showed but we should have got something out of the game. We're aware of that.
"I'm also pleased with the player's tenacity to try and get back into the game. Even when we conceded the third goal which was totally against the run of play, and we've defended set plays this season pretty well, but we've put them under a lot of pressure.
"We've scored two goals away from home yet again but we don't get anything out of it.
"We can't afford to gift teams goals and that's something which has happened this season on one or two occasions. That's disappointing but that's life.
"I think we have to continue with our positive approach. The more cynical people will say you have to solve the defensive approach.
"We are what we are and we are prepared to go man for man at the back because it suits the players we have. I'm pleased with the players we have and we're a decent side to watch and more importantly we at least give ourselves a bit of belief that we can win games."
Naismith's performance notably improved after his initial two errors but the damage was already done. Pearson didn't want to be too critical of his summer signing because the player himself will know errors like that will be punished against opponents of this standard.
"He will be fine, he will get supported by his manager and his team-mates and if you probably noticed, he still shows good leadership qualities when he makes mistakes and that's what leaders do," he added.
"You can't just be a good leader when you're at the top of your game. Some players when they make mistakes are still some of the main personalities on the pitch and you have to applaud that.
"He'll be particularly disappointed and I don't need to make further points about that. He's his own biggest critic but those are the types of mistakes we can ill-afford to make but I'd rather we lose being positive than trying to park a bus somewhere."
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