CHRIS Brown's first goal for the Canaries was not enough to prevent them sliding to defeat at Burnley, with a horror start to the game costing them.
City found themselves 2-0 down inside the first five minutes as first Robbie Blake and then an Andy Gray penalty left the visitors facing an uphill battle before they had barely begun.
To their credit, Norwich came out in the second period and had a real go at Steve Cotterill's side, with Brown's cool finish on 69 minutes setting-up a potential comeback.
But when substitute Jamie Cureton saw Gabor Kiraly pull off a stunning save from his shot from six-yards out, you sensed it was not to be City's night, and so it proved.
It meant more heartbreak for Norwich's supporters, with the 500 or so who made the long trip from Norfolk in great voice all evening.
Caretaker boss Jim Duffy made three changes from the side which started the 3-1 defeat to Bristol City at the weekend.
Out went the injured Adam Drury, replaced at left back by Simon Lappin. Rossi Jarvis was missing from the squad altogether, allowing Michael Spillane to take up his place in central midfield, with John Hartson rested on the bench. This allowed Chris Brown to join David Strihavka in attack.
Luke Chadwick was also handed his first start since the 2-0 defeat at Charlton.
But despite City winning a corner inside the first 30 seconds, it was Burnley who stormed into the earliest of leads.
With Lappin's kick being cleared, the home side embarked on a speedy break, with the City defence back-tracking desperately. A cross-field pass found Wade Elliott away on the right, and he committed Spillane to the tackle before lifting the perfect ball to the back post where Robbie Blake headed back across Marshall and into the far corner of the net.
And if that was a bad start, things got even worse for the Canaries just three minutes later when they conceded a penalty.
Andy Gray was hauled to the floor by Spillane on the very edge of the area, and the big striker dusted himself down to place a shot to Marshall's left as the Scottish stopper dived the other way.
It had truly been a nightmare start for a Canaries side already low in confidence, with City now needing a miracle to get anything from the game.
Burnley had been without a home win in the league since August, but Norwich - who can regularly be counted on to break such runs - looked like giving them a helping hand, with Clarke Carlisle coming close with a header from Blake's corner on eight minutes as the one-way traffic continued.
The shell-shocked Canaries had so far been limited to breakaway attacks, with the home side looking a real threat every time they went forward.
And on 13 minutes Marshall had to be strong down at his near post to push a low Robbie Blake effort wide for a corner.
Very few chances were coming Norwich's way during the first period, with Strihavka's looping header over Kiraly's bar from Otsemobor's free kick on 20 minutes summing things up.
Burnley were cutting through City's midfield with ease, and on 25 minutes Shackell had to produce a smart block at his own near post to deny Blake a second of the game.
It took until the half hour mark for City to force Kiraly into his first serious save of the match. Huckerby curled a ball into the box which was flicked-on by Strihavka towards Brown at the far post.
Brown, still hunting his first senior Norwich goal since his move from Sunderland in January, struck his volley well, but Kiraly - tracksuit bottoms and everything - spread himself well to block for a corner.
Two minutes later and Strihavka came closer, this time sending a header from Lappin's deep free kick onto the roof of the net from 12 yards out.
At the very least, City appeared to have stemmed the flow of Burnley attacks for the time being, although their horror start had left them facing an uphill battle.
On 33 minutes veteran Unsworth earned himself the first yellow card of the game for a clumsy challenge on Strihavka as he held-up the ball out wide on the right.
The Canaries were beginning to string some better moves together, with the Burnley home crowd quick to jump on their own players' backs at the slightest of mistakes.
Perhaps a sign that confidence was also low up at Turf Moor after so many home games without a win. However, City needed to turn-up the heat by at least grabbing a goal back before the break to create some hope of a fight-back.
Another good chance landed at the feet of a yellow shirt on 42 minutes. Lappin's cross was headed on by Brown but deflected back into the path of Russell lurking just inside the area.
But the 26-year-old pulled his shot horribly wide of the near post.
City's frustration boiled over on the stroke of half time when Huckerby earned himself a booking for protesting to the referee too much that he should have been awarded a penalty following a challenge by Carlisle.
Half time: Burnley 2-0 Norwich City
There were no changes for either side at the break, with City desperately hunting a goal which might give them the slightest of footholds in a game they had been chasing since the first minute.
The Canaries began the second half with some nice passing moves, but again looked to be lacking a cutting edge in the final third.
Burnley meanwhile were happy to be direct, and more often than not their moves ended with a strike on goal, as happened in the 50th minute with Blake firing wide of the near post from a good position.
A minute later and team-mate Kyle Lafferty came closer, with Marshall having to dive to his right to turn his low shot behind for a corner. From the resulting kick Norwich failed to clear their lines, with Chris McCann guilty of a glaring miss from no more than eight yards out.
As the game approached the hour mark with City still showing no signs of finding the goal to drag them back into things, despite some nice approach play, John Hartson was introduced to the attack at the expense of Strihavka.
But on 69 minutes City did get their goal - and it owed much to the introduction of Hartson.
Russell's first time cross from the right was held-up well by Hartson just inside the area, and he played an excellent ball into the path of Brown 10 yards out at an angle.
With no City goals to his name since joining the Club, the hundreds of Norwich fans behind the goal held their breath - but the big striker made no mistake, thrashing it into the bottom left corner to give the Canaries some renewed hope.
It was now the Canaries making all the moves in the final third, with their finally a real belief they could scrap at least a draw from the game.
But they were left counting their blessings on 76 minutes, when Gray missed a golden opportunity with a free header from the corner of the six-yard box after a cross by McCann from the left.
But with 10 minutes remaining it was City's turn to spurn an excellent chance. A long-ball from the back found Brown beating the offside trap down the left channel.
With a defender closing him down, he looked-up and rolled the ball across the six-yard box for Cureton, who was completely unmarked.
It looked a sure goal all the way, but Cureton somehow sent his shot straight at Kiraly, who blocked brilliantly.
It looked like a crucial moment in the game, and it was a chance Cureton would surely have tucked away 99 times out of 100 usually.
With six minutes remaining, Jimmy Smith was finally handed his long-awaited City debut at the expense of Russell.
Deep in injury time City won a corner, with every player including David Marshall packing the Burnley box. But Burnley managed to deal with the danger.
But Cureton's miss would prove crucial, as City suffered yet another defeat to further compound their misery down at the foot of the Championship table.
Full time: Burnley 2-1 Norwich City
Burnley: Kiraly, Alexander, Carlisle, Gray, Elliott, Spicer, McCann, Lafferty (Akinbiyi 79), Blake (Mahon 58), Jordan, Unsworth. Subs: Jensen, Harley, O'Connor, Akinbiyi.
Norwich City: Marshall, Otsemobor, Shackell, Huckerby, Chadwick (Cureton 69), Brown, Murray, Lappin, Russell (Smith 84), Strihavka (Hartson 58), Spillane. Subs: Croft, Martin.
