Norwich City loan striker Cody McDonald admits he has 'big boots to fill' after trading places with the Canaries' latest recruit Simeon Jackson. The 23-year-old agreed a season-long loan switch at Gillingham and played 45 minutes in the Gills' weekend friendly win against Calais but is poised to make his home debut in tonight's Priestfield pre-season outing against Peterborough.

Norwich City loan striker Cody McDonald admits he has 'big boots to fill' after trading places with the Canaries' latest recruit Simeon Jackson.

The 23-year-old agreed a season-long loan switch at Gillingham and played 45 minutes in the Gills' weekend friendly win against Calais but is poised to make his home debut in tonight's Priestfield pre-season outing against Peterborough. McDonald is under no illusions Paul Lambert's new signing is a hard act to follow after the Canadian international topped Gillingham's scoring charts for the past two seasons.

“Those are very big boots to fill,” said McDonald. “I don't know Simeon but the boys say he's a good lad and hopefully he goes to Norwich and does a really good job for them and I can do the same here. We'll just take each game and see how it goes. I'm paid to score goals and I'm looking to come here and do that for Gillingham. Hopefully we can get back into League One because the club is far too big to be in League Two, and getting back to League One should be the start of a stepping stone for things to come.”

Gills' chairman Paul Scally insisted they had to cash in on their prized asset with Jackson approaching the final 12 months of his current deal. League One title favourites Southampton and Norwich's Championship rivals Millwall were both linked with Jackson but Scally revealed Carrow Road was Jackson's preferred choice. He said: “It's a deal we had no option but to do. We're very sorry to see Simeon go.”