Jonathan Rowe no show not a factor in poor Oxford showing

The winger was due to start on the right wing at the Kassam Stadium before opting to pull out from the squad hours before kick-off on Saturday lunchtime. 

Marseille are the only club who have submitted a bid for the England U21 international, although Leeds United remain interested in his services. 

Johannes Hoff Thorup admitted his disappointment post-match, but Stacey doesn't believe it had an impact on the playing squad.

"In football, you have to deal with everything from the outside," the right back said. "I've always found myself focusing on the things that you can influence. 

"I don't really know what happened with the situation. I just know that he was unavailable for the game today. As soon as that starting XI is announced, it is something that nobody is thinking about. 

"It's football. A little bit more so now because we've got players who in demand but you can only take that as a positive thing, but when the transfer window is open then you never know what's going to happen. 

"Speaking as a player, it's not something that I can affect at all. It's not something that we can affect at all, so we need to leave that to the people who can affect it. We hope by the end of the transfer window as strong as squad as we can." 

Norwich's struggles at the Kassam Stadium came due to difficulties in possession and errors in defensive areas. 

Norwich City's performance was littered with individual errors. (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd)

Throughout pre-season, Stacey has been a constant in an ever-changing back four impacted by injuries. On the opening day, City were without new additions Jose Cordoba or Ben Chrisene. 

"Continuity is definitely a big factor in developing a back four and being able to produce defensive performances that you're happy with but at the same time, every player who has come in is good enough to perform," Stacey said. 

"It's not something that we can point to as an excuse today."