BENNETT RELISHING NORWICH CHANCE

Ryan Bennett is relishing the chance to take his game to another level under Paul Lambert at Norwich.

Last Updated: 08/02/12 at 17:30 Post Comment   

Ryan Bennett: Looking to impress for Norwich

Ryan Bennett: Looking to impress for Norwich

England Under-21 defender Ryan Bennett is relishing the chance to take his game to another level under Paul Lambert at Norwich.

The Canaries made an 11th-hour swoop for the centre-back on transfer deadline day, with Bennett halfway to Swansea before turning back to Norfolk where he completed what is understood to be a £3million deal late into the night.

As part of the move, Bennett has been loaned out again to Posh until the end of the month, when he will finally join up with his new team-mates and a manager whose stature continues to grow following Norwich's impressive return to top-flight football.

"As soon as I knew the interest from Norwich was full-on, I turned the car around and drove there. I did not get back to Peterborough until four in the morning, but it was all worth it," said Bennett, capped by England Under-21s against Norway in October.

He added on Canaries Player: "The manager has taken every club he has been at forwards, and has continued to do that at Norwich.

"For me to go there and play under a manager like him, I am sure it will make me a better player to achieve the level I want.

"The Premier League is the top league in the world, everyone wants to play in it and hopefully I will get my chance.

"Norwich are a close bunch of lads, so hopefully I can fit in well.

"There are a lot of good players there and it is up to me to work hard, take a chance when I get it and make a name for myself there."

The Canaries consolidated their place in the top half of the table with a 2-0 win over Bolton at Carrow Road on Saturday but both centre-backs, Daniel Ayala and Zak Whitbread, had to be replaced with injury.

Ayala, 21, suffered what is reported to be a minor tear in his hamstring and the summer signing from Liverpool faces another spell out, having just regained his place in the side after a knee problem.

Whitbread, meanwhile, came off with his own hamstring issue, which the American-born centre-back hopes will not prove too serious.

Having to break up a defensive partnership which had been growing in recent weeks would be a setback for Lambert as he prepares for the trip to Swansea, another of the promoted sides who have defied pre-season predictions to compete at the top level.

Russell Martin, Leon Barnett and Elliott Ward, now recovered from a pre-season knee injury, all provide options in the middle.

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T

here has only been 3 players who made me hold my breath in dread when they picked the ball up anywhere near our penalty area...in their prime Scholes and Giggs... and always Drogba. Awesome player who on his day was the best striker in the world in my opinion.

gunner14
Farewell Big, Brutal, Big-Balled B**tard

I

remember him scoring a 25-yarder, either the season just gone or the one before, against Bolton at the Reebok. I've never seen a ball hit that hard before in my entire life. You could almost feel the shockwave from his foot contacting it 40 yards away in the stands. Didier Droga. You might not have loved him, but you just had to be in awe of him.

jon_bwfc
Farewell Big, Brutal, Big-Balled B**tard

E

den Hazard, def. - 1) that girl in a club who makes eyes at you all night, who allows you to buy her a drink and walk her home arm in arm, who then gives you a suggestive kiss on her doorstep before declaring how tired she is and how she has to be up early the next day. 2) A cock tease.

cramp
Hazard 'terms agreed' with trio

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