Norwich City boss Peter Grant has told the club's official website he is keen to keep Dion Dublin at Carrow Road next season.

Norwich City boss Peter Grant has told the club's official website he was keen to keep Dion Dublin at Carrow Road next season.

Dublin, 37, has vast experience in the FA Cup, having been a losing finalist with Aston Villa in 2000.

And he is also no stranger to success against Saturday's opponents Chelsea, scoring a hat-trick at Stamford Bridge in Coventry's 3-2 win over the Blues on the opening day of the 1997/1998 season.

It's experience like this which Grant sees as a vital component of his City squad, and an element he would like to keep, with Dublin's contract with Norwich set to expire this summer.

"He's a smashing bloke, and somebody I want around the Club even next year," Grant said. "I know his contract is up in the summer, but I want him around the place because he has that natural enthusiasm.

"If you are looking at bringing youngsters in, they all look up to him and respect him, and that's all you can ask for."

Grant said he had already spoken with Dublin about extending his stay at Carrow Road, and hoped very much an agreement could be reached.

"I think he's excited at the prospect that I still want him," said Grant. "Sometimes people get to that age and they get cast off, but I'm not like that. You can't automatically think that because of his age he doesn't do a job any more. It's how they perform on the pitch and how they perform in training."

Dion himself said he was excited at the prospect of returning to a Premiership ground to play - a chance he admitted he felt had passed him by.

"I am (excited) because I never thought I'd be able to play in a Premier League ground again against a Premier League team in the FA Cup," he said.

"So I'm really looking forward to it. I know it's going to be hard, but I always play with a smile on my face.

“If I can pass a little bit of information on to the younger boys and say 'look, don't be too overawed, but you're going there to do a job and that job is to win the game for Norwich City. I don't know how close we're going to get to that, but we are going to give it our best shot and work very hard."