Norwich City: John Ruddy criticism 'unfair' - Alex Neil

John Ruddy's last clean sheet was in last season's Championship play-off final victory

Criticism of Norwich City goalkeeper John Ruddy is unfair, according to manager Alex Neil.

Ruddy has not kept a clean sheet this term and an error led to a late penalty in Saturday's loss at Manchester City.

"John made an error at the weekend but it's not as if he's been flinging balls into the net or dropping balls on a regular basis," said Neil.

"I think that's really unfair - but any sort of error then gets magnified because we're not winning games."

Canaries defender Russell Martin was sent off for a handball after Ruddy was caught out of position in the 88th minute against Man City

The Canaries have not won since September and host Swansea on Saturday without injured winger Matt Jarvis and suspended captain Russell Martin.

Neil said there were no guaranteed places in his team as he looked for their form to improve.

"I think there's only been four players in my squad all season that have not been dropped or rested for the team," he told BBC Radio Norfolk.

"It shows that places are up for grabs and if people aren't performing then they'll be out of the side.

"What you've got to remember is that in some positions there's more competition than others, so the problem we've got is if you're taking a player out of the team you've got to replace him with someone who's either better or capable of doing the job.

"There's no point in taking out someone to prove a point."