The defeat in Yorkshire prior to the pause for international fixtures tempered the positivity that has been growing after an impressive start to the campaign.
Norwich looked lethargic and were unable to hit the levels of performance that Wagner has come to expect of his side.
Alex Neil’s Stoke come to Carrow Road on Saturday and City’s boss is hoping the time to stew on the events at the New York Stadium will make them determined to hit the ground running.
“After the break we have two great home games against Stoke and Leicester and that is the point we will focus on now,” City’s boss said.
“It was an intense week with three away games. Maybe it is not so bad that we have had an international break and everyone can feel this pain a little bit longer.
“I said to them and they knew at half-time this was not what I expected. This is not our standard. These are not the demands which we have on each other. We spoke about the tactical things as well.
“It was a deserved defeat because we have the expectations we do it from the first to the last second. We did that in previous results. It was a good start but it doesn’t feel like a good start now.”
Context is key after that defeat with Norwich still sitting pretty in fifth having taken 10 points from a possible 15. The quest now is it to prove that Rotherham loss was just a blip.
Wagner felt the defeat was self-inflicted and challenged his side to improve or prepare for him to make changes.
“This game is part of the start. It was not a super start. We all know you will concede defeats in the Championship but it still hurts,” Wagner said.
“The good thing is we concede a defeat because of us. This now should not happen again. This is where every individual should learn and will learn. Otherwise I will react. We have to live with it.
“It happened and we learn from it. This is my expectations. This defeat doesn’t change the demands on ourselves. We don’t want this feeling again.”
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