Carlton Morris is 'so pleased' to see former club Norwich City doing well and is fired up for Barnsley's play-off opportunity to follow the champions up to the Premier League.

The striker was with City from 10 years old and was a key part of the under-18 squad which won the FA Youth Cup in 2013, but after eight loan stints and just one senior appearance, he left for Barnsley in January.

That reported £250,000 switch came with the 25-year-old entering the final six months of his Canaries contract and has proved an excellent move for him, scoring seven goals in 23 games.

"It's been a tremendous decision, a great move for me," said the Cambridge-born forward.

"Of course I'm thankful to Norwich for the years I was there and the development and all that, I haven't got a bad word to say about Norwich.

"It's such a good club and I speak to a lot of the lads still now, and I'm so glad to see that they've got promotion and done so well.

"But this is home to me now and I'm proud to be able to call it so."

The Tykes shook off a bad start to the season following the arrival of Valerien Ismael as manager in October and surged to fifth place, sealing a play-off position for the first time since Premier League relegation in 1998.

That was the South Yorkshire club's only season in the top flight, with Swansea standing between a Wembley final against Brentford or Bournemouth.

"I can see the 'free hit' mentality, of course I can definitely understand that and why people might see it like that," Morris said of Barnsley's surprise success, speaking to his club's official matchday programme.

"But listen, we are here now, we're not here just to take part, we aren't here for a participation medal.

"We are here to give it our all, give it a right good go. I know what this group of lads are like, they will leave everything out there, in every game."

The Pink Un: Carlton Morris closes down Norwich defender Andrew Omobamidele during Barnsley's 2-2 draw with the champions at OakwellCarlton Morris closes down Norwich defender Andrew Omobamidele during Barnsley's 2-2 draw with the champions at Oakwell (Image: ©Focus Images Limitedhttps://www.focus-images.co.uk+44 7813 022858)

The Tykes made Norwich fight back twice to draw 2-2 at Oakwell on Saturday before their trophy presentation, when Morris got away with a clear shirt pull on young City defender Andrew Omobamidele before setting up Cauley Woodrow for the opener.

A maximum of 4,500 supporters will be at Oakwell next Monday for the first leg against Swansea, as coronavirus restrictions start to ease, and Morris believes Barnsley are in a good place for the challenge.

"Play-offs are a lottery at the best of times and we've got our ticket now so it's all about doing everything we possibly can to cash it in," Morris continued, speaking before Saturday's draw.

"We know we can compete with all of these teams. We are a top team ourselves, we've proven that this season.

"You don't win 23 games and get into the play-offs by chance. You do it over 46 games of hard work, we've done it in 44.

"The sky is the limit for this squad but nobody is getting ahead of themselves. We will stick to the same beliefs, that same mentality that has served us well all season."