DAVID CUFFLEY Midfielder Mark Fotheringham has nailed his colours to the Norwich City mast by declaring: “I want to stay here.” The 23-year-old Scot, who has signed for the Canaries until the end of the season, made his seventh appearance for the club in Tuesday night's 2-1 home defeat by Derby.

DAVID CUFFLEY

Midfielder Mark Fotheringham has nailed his colours to the Norwich City mast by declaring: “I want to stay here.”

The 23-year-old Scot, who has signed for the Canaries until the end of the season, made his seventh appearance for the club in Tuesday night's 2-1 home defeat by Derby.

And the former Celtic man, recruited by manager Peter Grant on the last day of the January transfer window, has already seen enough to convince him he would like to extend his stay when the current campaign is over.

“I love it here. I want to be here a long time,” said Fotheringham. “We'll see what happens this month in terms of the contract, but I like it here and I want to stay here. I think it's a great stadium to play football in, the fans here are really welcoming and nice people, and it's a good bunch of guys.

“But the most important thing is I want to come down here and work with the manager as well because he's a midfielder. He's always giving pointers and looking at the game from a midfield point of view, which helps us lads and I think myself, Saf and big Dickson have picked up so much information from him. I have in the last few weeks, anyway.

“We'll wait and see what happens but I'm delighted to be here. It's a great club, I cannot speak highly enough of the club and just hope we can get a few more points to get up the table.”

Fotheringham, a free agent when he signed for City after spells in Germany and Switzerland, said Tuesday's display against the Rams had only strengthened his desire to stay on.

He said: “Derby are first in the league but we were going in after the game disappointed. That just says to me that Norwich City football club should be on a different level to where we are just now. We've got to be pushing for promotion next season and it cannot be any less than that.

“We've got the players here, we've got the manager, we've got the backroom staff, the stadium, the fans, the facilities - we've got everything, so it's up to us. The most important thing is the players - that we realise that and get this team up the table.”

Fotheringham almost grabbed his first goal in Canary colours after just five minutes when Derby 'keeper Stephen Bywater denied him with one of a string of excellent saves.

He said: “I think there were a few bodies in front of me and I just tried to put the ball back where it came from to disguise it, but the keeper got a good touch on it with his leg. I'm sure a goal will come soon enough. Simon Lappin's got one so he's been winding me up about it already.”

The defeat, inflicted by two David Jones goals after Chris Martin had given City the lead, should have been averted, said Fotheringham.

He said: “The boys are just gutted - disappointed to lose like that. We had a lot of the game in the first half when we were on the front foot.

“We started really well. We were positive in the first half, the same in the second but we never stuck to the jobs the gaffer was trying to tell us to do. We never really got pressure on the guy Jones for the first goal. We switched off.

“They were fantastic finishes but us as midfielders or defenders or whoever in the team, we need to get pressure on the ball in that area and stop them from finishing, and then we've got to be tracking runners. Small things like that are going to win Norwich games. In terms of the majority of the game, we pass teams off the pitch and it's just disappointing we can't get the wins.

“But Chris Martin took his goal really well, so that was positive - another goal for him.”