Todd Cantwell feels he has proven he is Premier League quality this season at Norwich City.
Cantwell got the nod to start at champions-elect Liverpool on the opening night, in August, and has not looked back with six goals in 29 top-flight appearances.
The 22-year-old also earned his first England Under-21 caps alongside club mates Max Aarons and Ben Godfrey earlier in the season in a breakout campaign for the Dereham attacking ace.
“For me, personally, I feel I have become a much better footballer this season,” he said. “I have learned so much through playing. You don’t go into a Premier League game with that mindset - it is about winning - but as the games go on you do learn.
“If you want to become better and be regarded as the best you have to challenge yourself and with getting promoted we put ourselves in that bracket, but now we have to show we can step up.
“The teams that stay in this league year in year out are better than many give them credit for.
“We have seen that and maybe that is something we didn’t expect when we first came into the league.”
Cantwell, along with the rest of Daniel Farke’s squad, must currently sit and wait during football’s lockdown for a chance to resume their quest for Premier League survival and potential FA Cup glory.
“It’s not ideal but I won’t be complaining too much. I am healthy and it is a good opportunity to reflect, look at the games we have played and some individual performances. So it is not all bad,” he said, interviewed on The United Stand youtube channel.
“It is hard because we don’t know when we are going to be back in. But there is a pride there as a professional to keep yourself fit, and get better in some areas you might not be able to focus on.
“There are definitely little bits we need to tighten up on.
“We have made some naïve mistakes but for many of us this is the first time in the Premier League and we definitely have not embarrassed ourselves.
“We have been on the wrong end of it too often this season and it can be disheartening when you are in a game and then suddenly the opposition go up a gear.
“But we have a way of playing and we stay true to that. I am proud to say.”
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