Lappin has unfinished business at City

Norwich's on loan Scottish exile Simon Lappin has unfinished business at Carrow Road despite firing Motherwell a step closer to the UEFA Cup next season.

The 25-year-old's first goal of his Fir Park loan stint sunk SPL champions Celtic at Parkhead on Saturday to keep Mark McGhee's men in pole position for third spot behind the Old Firm.

Lappin has made 11 appearances since returning north of the border in the January transfer window but the former St Mirren man is desperate to force his way back into Glenn Roeder's summer rebuilding plans.

The Scot refuses to call time on his City career as he approaches the final year of his current Carrow Road contract despite being frozen out of Roeder's first team squad.

Lappin has clocked up 33 senior appearances for the Canaries since his £75,000 Love Street switch in January 2007.

“I worked hard to win a transfer to England,” he said. “But things didn't quite happen for me this season and I felt it would be best to come up here on loan and get some first-team football under my belt with Motherwell. I knew before I returned to Scotland that Mark McGhee had the team playing well and had an attacking approach to his tactics. That was an important factor for me and hopefully I can do a good job while I'm up here. If I perform well and help Motherwell to be successful then it won't do my chances at Norwich any harm.”

Lappin admits clinching European football next season would be the perfect send off.

“It would be fantastic if Motherwell could finish third in the SPL. I think that would be a brilliant achievement for the club,” he said. “Everyone is aiming high and hopefully we can finish the season well and qualify for Europe. I don't see why we can't do that if we continue to perform well. Of course, there are a lot of matches remaining and it will come down to our performances in those matches whether or not we finish in third place. But as things stand that is still very much the target.”

Lappin's first half strike at the weekend silenced the vast majority of the 58,000 packed into Parkhead after being pushed into a more advanced midfield role with the return of left back Stevie Hammell.

“I have always said my preferred position is in midfield but last week Stevie was injured and I was more than happy to step in and play at left back,” he said. “I was happy to retain my place coming to Parkhead and getting the chance to play in front of a big crowd, and long may it continue. It's not about individuals though it is about a team performance and I thought everyone of us was absolutely excellent.”

Lappin admitted Motherwell had to dig deep after playing the final 40 minutes with ten men when former Rangers defender Bob Malcolm was sent off.

“When you come to a place like Parkhead you expect to be put under a bit of pressure and they did that,” he said. “We scored against the run of play but sometimes that is what it takes and we are absolutely delighted with the three points.

“Coming to play Celtic the last thing you need is to go down to ten men but we got together for the rest of the game and got a magnificent win. They had a few shots from long range and we couldn't get near them. We got to grips with things, though, particularly in the last fifteen minutes of the first half.

“At the start of the second half it was disappointing to have Bob sent off and it was backs to the wall after that. I thought we defended excellently right from front to the back. Only when the referee blew the final whistle can you think it's over because they did have a lot of pressure.”