Former Norwich City defender Simon Charlton believes that in Peter Grant the club have found the man to drag the club “out of the doldrums”. Charlton, 35, who now plies his trade with Oldham Athletic in League One, thinks Grant is just the type of dynamic character the club needs following Nigel Worthington's departure.

Former Norwich City defender Simon Charlton believes that in Peter Grant the club have found the man to drag the club “out of the doldrums”.

Charlton, 35, who now plies his trade with Oldham Athletic in League One, thinks Grant is just the type of dynamic character the club needs following Nigel Worthington's departure.

“I don't think it's going to be an overnight change but the club needs a character like Grant. They need a character like that to drag the club out of the doldrums as the club seems to have lost its edge a bit at the moment.

“I've heard some very good things coming out of Carrow Road about Grant and how he doesn't suffer fools gladly.”

Charlton joined Norwich in 2004 from Bolton for the start of their Premiership campaign but left the club in the summer after a breakdown in communication with then manager Worthington.

“It got to the stage when myself and Nigel did not see eye-to-eye and there was only ever going to be one winner,” he said. “I just felt at the time that Norwich had real potential to be a Premiership club, particularly with signing Dean Ashton. The club really had the potential to go places but somewhere along the line it went a bit wrong.

“I was hugely disappointed getting relegated for the first time in my career there, especially as we had such a fantastic bunch of lads.

“But towards the end it got to the stage when I didn't look forward to going to training at Colney so when the chance to move to Oldham came about I was glad to go.”

Charlton, who played 50 times for City, scoring twice, revealed how he has since rediscovered his love for football with the Latics, who are flying high in fifth place in League One. The defender has even scored from inside his own half against Gillingham this season.

“I'm having a great time and hopefully we can really push towards promotion,” he said.

Charlton really made his name when he moved to Southampton in 1993 and he has fond memories of his time at The Dell. He played in the same side as Matt Le Tissier - a player he rates as the best he's ever played with.

“We never made excuses for our style of play. We knew we had nine outfield players who were just terriers who would try to get the ball to Matt Le Tissier whenever we could. He used to win games on his own at times.”

Charlton played under five different managers in his four years on the South Coast but insisted it was a great period in his career. “We had some great characters like Iain Dowie and Micky Adams and there was a great team spirit among us.”

Charlton believes tomorrow's match between Southampton and Norwich will be an extremely tight affair where the odd goal is likely to settle matters.

“I think it's going to be tough for both sides,” he said. “I know that results have not gone particularly well at Norwich and Southampton have been strong of late.

“But both teams will not want to give anything away and a single goal could prove crucial for either side.”