His move to Norwich City has put a big smile on James Husband’s face – and he cannot wait to make his mark.
The 23-year-old left-back signed from Middlesbrough just hours before his pre-season debut in Tuesday night’s draw at Stevenage on Tuesday night.
And Husband saw 75 minutes of action in Saturday’s 120-minute friendly win at Cambridge United – albeit only because of the ankle injury suffered by Alex Pritchard that threatens to rule the forward out of the new season’s opening exchanges.
“It’s a massive opportunity for me,” said Husband. “I can’t thank enough the coach for bringing me in. It was a tough season for me last year, but I’ve come here and got a fresh start. A fresh life for me, basically. I’ve got to move everything down. But I’m looking forward to the challenge ahead.
“I think it’s nice to experience new things sometimes and be a little bit out of your comfort zone, and hopefully I’ll thrive off it.
“I’ve come here to be Norwich’s number three, I believe in myself and hopefully I can do the job to show everyone I’m more than capable of doing it.”
Saturday’s clash was certainly far from friendly, as both Pritchard and Timm Klose went down with injuries instigated by Cambridge tackles at best described as clumsy.
“I think you always expect when you come to these places that it’s going to be tough,” said Husband.
“We have got to be ready for that in the season, so it’s no surprise – especially to some of the English boys that have played in them before.
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“Maybe some of the new boys it could’ve surprised them a little bit but I’m sure we’ll be ready in the season for that sort of battle. You can’t replicate stuff like that on the training ground. It’s nice to get out on the field and practice some of the ideas he’s given us.”
Husband added: “It’s been good. It’s different for me. Everything is new and I think it’s new for all the players, with the new coach coming in.
“So we’re learning and I think if you watched this game, you could see we’re starting to get the ideas a bit better and starting to open up our play a little bit better.
“We kept the ball better. There are different ways of how he wants us to play – I’m not going to give too much of that away but you’ll see a few different ways over the course of the season.”
• For the latest Norwich City news and opinion follow Michael Bailey on Twitter @michaeljbailey, Facebook @mbjourno and Instagram @mrmichaeljbailey
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