Former Canaries number two Lee Clark says it was an easy decision to leave Norwich City and take his first steps into management with Huddersfield. The 36-year-old was speaking publicly for the first time since leaving his job as assistant to Glenn Roeder and signing a three-and-a-half year deal at the League One club.

Former Canaries number two Lee Clark says it was an easy decision to leave Norwich City and take his first steps into management with Huddersfield.

The 36-year-old was speaking publicly for the first time since leaving his job as assistant to Glenn Roeder and signing a three-and-a-half year deal at the League One club.

"It's a club that's nine points off the play-offs so it's in a good situation," he said. "Usually you get to take a manager's job when they've been struggling, but Gerry Murphy and Graham Mitchell have done well with the team to get them in a position where we're hanging just outside the play-off positions.

"But the whole package was just so exciting for me I just couldn't turn it down."

Clark made quickly made his ambitions clear.

"There's a new chairman coming in, a new management team, so let's look to the future and be positive," he said. "Let's take the club as far as we can.

"Why not aim for the stars and go all the way to the top and aim for the big prize, which is the Premier League?

"Phil Brown is the example for every up-and-coming manager of what you can achieve and who would have thought of Hull City doing what they're doing in the Premier League two years ago?

"Let's go for it - the fans deserve a bit of success, they come here in great numbers. People might think it's crazy to talk about the Premier League, but you've got to have ambitions and you've got to aim for the best you can do. "Let's go - this is the start of it. We're mid-table in League One but I've got a three-and-a-half year contract and I'm determined to do the very, very best I can in that period."

Clark admitted that there would be one or two question marks over his ability to manage at the highest level at his age, but insisted he was up to the challenge.

"I've been working towards this day since I was 17 years old - I started coaching a young team at that age. I've been taking my coaching badges throughout my career - it hasn't just come to a stage where my playing days came to an end and I decided to take a coaching role up.

"I've been planning for this for so many years and this was the ultimate ambition to be the number one - the boss - and to make the final decisions, so this day has been in my thoughts for 17 or 18 years."

Clark will watch his new side for the first time at Southend today before fully taking the reins next week.