Luton lost a third consecutive match after a 1-0 defeat at home by Norwich City.

Marcelino Nunez’s drive into the bottom corner won the game for the Canaries, as Luton were punished for missing several opportunities in the course of the game.

The Hatters’ defeat means they now fall to 20th position in the Championship table, with Rob Edwards’ side having lost 14 of their first 25 games of the campaign.

The team’s advantage remained at three points after Hull suffered an injury time defeat to Middlesbrough in the game’s evening kick off, but does little to ease building pressure around the club as they continue to struggle back in the second tier.

Having endured defeats at Bristol City and Swansea in their last two outings, Luton were hoping to return to winning ways on their on pitch as a relief from their poor away form that had seen them suffer nine consecutive Championship away losses.

Proceedings had begun in a busy manner, with the Hatters coming close early on after Elijah Adebayo saw a strike denied by Angus Gunn in the Norwich goal.

Norwich would come close when Emiliano Marcondes was thwarted by Thomas Kaminski, in a reminder of the visitors’ threat.

Luton came close in the latter stages of the first half after Adebayo met Tahith Chong’s cross and saw a header denied by Gunn in the Norwich goal.

Borja Sainz miscued a strike from the edge of the box just after the break, before a lot of the second half pressure fell Luton’s way.

Chong saw a firm hit strike the crossbar with Gunn beaten, with the rebound from Zack Nelson blocked, before Gunn denied Tom Holmes’ header at a corner and Shane Duffy pulled off a block on Morris’ strike.

But just as it seemed Luton seemed likelier to find a way through, the Hatters would instead concede the opening goal. The Chilean international received Marcondes’ pass and was able to advance to a shooting position. His low effort duly went through a crowd, deceived Kaminski and found the bottom corner.

Norwich sub Ante Crnac saw an effort go wide in an attempt to seal the deal for the visitors, before Luton missed a great chance to level in added time when substitute Cauley Woodrow smacked a shot off the post.

But there was no way back for Luton, who have now won just one of their last five games. The Hatters will be seeking to return to some form and fix their away record in their next game, when they travel to QPR next Monday.