Dean Smith felt his senior pros did not protect the Brentford youngsters making their full home debuts.
The Bees, who made seven changes for the Carabao Cup clash, were woeful against Norwich, who had made five, and were well beaten by three goals to one.
Ilias Chatzitheodoridis was making just his third start, while Theo Archibald and Chris Mepham were making their first.
And Smith was pleased with his young players' efforts, even if they may have been disappointed with their performance.
He said: “I said to the players who have been there and made their full debuts that it's a great time for these young players. I don't think we protected them enough.
“Ilias didn't do a lot wrong. It was tough for Theo to get involved in and I felt it was a soft penalty against Chris. He never shied away and kept going.”
Josh Clarke is now Brentford's joint top scorer in what was another blank night for the Bees' forwards.
Smith added: “Clarkey scored a good goal. I don't think there were many attempts for either side it became a keep ball session and I felt we played too much as individuals rather than a team.”
Yoann Barbet should have opened his account for the season from the penalty spot but his effort would be sailing over the Atlantic had it not been caught in the upper tier of the Brook Road stand.
Smith explained: “As a set piece taker, dead ball striker, Yoann is one of the best in the squad. He took a good penalty against Eastleigh. It was one of those moments where it missed the target and I felt it affected him.”
