DAVID CUFFLEY Ryan Jarvis hailed the appointment of new coach Martin Hunter as he seeks to re-ignite his Norwich City first team chances.More than three years after making his debut as the youngest City player of all time, Jarvis has started just six senior matches and made a further 21 appearances as substitute, scoring once in each of the past three seasons.

DAVID CUFFLEY

Ryan Jarvis hailed the appointment of new coach Martin Hunter as he seeks to re-ignite his Norwich City first team chances.

More than three years after making his debut as the youngest City player of all time, Jarvis has started just six senior matches and made a further 21 appearances as substitute, scoring once in each of the past three seasons.

But as he prepares to celebrate his 20th birthday a week tomorrow, he's hoping his time has finally come - and the arrival of Hunter, who has coached him at international level ever since he made his debut for England Under-16s, could just give his game that extra edge.

“He's a great coach to work with,” said Jarvis of the 51-year-old Yorkshireman, who relinquished his job with England Under-19s to move to Carrow Road. “He'll have a lot of good input on the coaching side of things. He'll stop and help you and he's good to talk to. He's got a lot of knowledge about the game, so he'll have a good impact on the whole squad.

“I've been working with him from under-16s up until now. I've enjoyed working with him at every age group and he's enjoyed working with all the young players.

“But he's taken the step to come into club football again and I think he's really excited about it and he's looking forward to working with us as much as we are working with him.”

Jarvis, who signed a new two-year contract with City towards the end of last season, is determined to force his way into manager Nigel Worthington's plans and make up for lost time after a series of niggling injuries last season, including a knee problem that sidelined him for three months.

Said Jarvis: “I'm fighting fit and over my injury worries and the thing I've got to do is focus on staying fit and hopefully be involved a lot more.

“I'm aiming to do that - I aim to do that every year. But last year I was unfortunate with injuries. Every player wants to play regularly in the first team and I'm sure everyone else will be fighting to do that.

“Like everyone else, I can't wait to get started.

“This season will be as tough as last season, if not tougher. We've got to work hard and stay together as a squad and get some wins together to get to the top of the table and stay there, because if you slip away it's much harder to get back up there.”

Jarvis remains City's youngest senior debutant thanks to his appearance as a substitute at Walsall in April 2003 when he was just 16 years 282 days old, and brother Rossi was another early starter when he was given his first senior outing at 17 as a substitute in last season's Carling Cup third round tie at Birmingham.

Now there is the intriguing prospect of striker Ryan and defender Rossi, now 18, becoming the first brothers to play for City in the same first-team match since Arthur and Reginald Cropper against Brighton at The Nest in 1928, an achievement that would thrill parents Neil and Polly, from Fakenham.

“Possibly, yes, that could happen. I'd love to play with my brother in the first team, and my mum and dad would love to see it. If it comes, then great but if it doesn't we'll have to work harder to make it happen,” said the elder Jarvis.

He admitted he had become used to having his brother in the same squad - Rossi was ruled out of last season's trip to Reading when he jarred his back in a collision with Ryan in training - but insisted: “He's his own player, his own person. We treat each other as team-mates rather than brothers when we're playing. Everyone gets on with their own job in training and on match days. But certainly, off the field, I might give him stick!”

One appropriate opportunity for the two brothers to appear together on familiar territory is in City's first pre-season friendly - at Fakenham Town on Wednesday, July 12.