After taking an early lead in their Barclays Premier League match at Aston Villa on Sunday, the Canaries were blitzed by a four-goal salvo from the home side over a 16-minute period in the first half, sparked by two goals in three minutes from Christian Benteke.
Hughton's job is under threat, and he has been told he will be relieved of his position IF Norwich drop into the bottom three.
Norwich will play Stoke City on Saturday at Carrow Road and a defeat would see a hostile reaction.
Earlier in the season he saw a 4-1 defeat at Arsenal, following respective 4-0 and 7-0 hammerings at Manchester United and Manchester City over a five-day period.
A 5-1 humbling at Liverpool preceded a 2-0 victory over West Brom, that one on the road, while an embarrassing 3-0 defeat at Fulham was followed by a 1-0 success over Hull at Carrow Road.
Chris Hughton: "This result is a concern because our form has been good.
"Certainly on the back of some defensive displays where we have been better than we were earlier in the season, and after our performance against Tottenham.
"So it's a real body blow for us because that is not how we have been in recent weeks.
"If we win our home game on Saturday and other results go our way then it changes things again. It is very much like that.
"It is very competitive, probably as competitive as I have seen the bottom half of the division, and I would imagine it will continue to be that way."
1 Chelsea 63
2 Liverpool 59
3 Arsenal 59
4 Man City 57
5 Tottenham 53
6 Everton 48
7 Man Utd 45
8 Newcastle 43
9 Southampton 39
10 West Ham 31
11 A Villa 31
12 Hull City 30
13 Stoke City 30
14 Swansea 29
15 Norwich 28
16 C Palace 27
17 West Brom 25
18 Sunderland 24
19 Cardiff 22
20 Fulham 21
FA CUP
Saturday March 8
12:45 Arsenal v Everton
Sunday March 9
12:00 Sheffield United v Charlton
14:00 Hull City v Sunderland
16:05 Manchester City v Wigan Athletic
PREMIER LEAGUE
Saturday March 8
12:45 West Brom v Man Utd
15:00 Cardiff City v Fulham
15:00 Crystal Palace v Southampton
15:00 Norwich City v Stoke City
17:30 Chelsea v Tottenham