Marco Stiepermann admits he’s ‘desperate’ to break his goal drought for Norwich City in the Premier League.

The German midfielder scored nine goals and assisted a further seven during 43 Championship games last season, emerging as a key player for Daniel Farke.

However, despite starting all eight games in the top flight since promotion, Stiepermann is yet to claim a goal or assist - although he was involved in the build-up to goals during the wins over Newcastle and Manchester City.

"When you are an offensive player and you don't have a goal or an assist, you're desperate to score and assist," he confessed. "But I will always be there for my team-mates, and I will always be giving my all, the most important thing is us doing well.

"Especially when we have all these injured players, I want to step up and be more of a leader because I'm 28 now and I have a lot of experience, and I want to bring that on to the pitch.

"We want to take each game one by one and get the points that make us safe as soon as possible."

Stiepermann has been one of the older heads for City recently, due to the injury crisis which has kept several experienced players out of action, and is trying to help his younger colleagues.

"I try to be positive all of the time to my team-mates," he continued. "When I was younger I always appreciated an older guy coming to me and making sure I was okay, and that's what I try to give the younger lads now.

"I really enjoy that side of things and I also enjoy playing with such young players. But age is just a number. Look at Ronaldo, who is 34 but looks 21 on the pitch."

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The former Borussia Dortmund trainee, signed from Greuther Furth for around £1million in 2017, did make seven Bundesliga appearances when he was younger but has found the pace of the Premier League to be relentless.

"The playing style is a lot better. Each and every team has good players and they can play good football," he added, speaking to City's matchday programme.

"The intensity during the game is also really massive - there's never a break and you can't get a quick rest in the game.

The Pink Un: Marco Stiepermann couldn't find the back of the net against Aston Villa Picture: Paul Chesterton/Focus ImagesMarco Stiepermann couldn't find the back of the net against Aston Villa Picture: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images (Image: Paul Chesterton)

"In the Championship you have something like 80 fouls during the game when you can get a 10-second rest each time. But in the Premier League it's constant."