Former England international Peter Crouch has spoken about his loan spell at Norwich City in glowing terms, saying his time in Norfolk "reignited his career".

The ex-Tottenham and Stoke City striker played 15 games for the Canaries between September and December 2003, scoring four times before returning to parent club Aston Villa.

"Norwich is a big club," he said, "but it had a nice feel about it. They had a good team at the time. I spoke to the manager (Nigel Worthington) and I enjoyed it.

"Bearing in mind I was a Premier League player, I'd scored a few Premier League goals, it was a step down, but it was something I needed."

Crouch was signed at the same time as Darren Huckerby and Kevin Harper to boost City's 2003-04 promotion bid, helping them to win what was then Division One.

Speaking on his own That Peter Crouch Podcast, the 41-year-old continued: "I wasn't quite ready for the Premier League when I signed for Aston Villa, so I needed a bit of time to carry on developing.

"That loan move was probably what reignited my career. I went to Norwich and we were just flying. We were winning games, scoring goals.

"I had a great connection with Darren Huckerby and Kevin Harper. We did hit it off and we did really well.

"We were really solid at the back, good goalkeeper, right throughout the team we had ability. We ended up winning the league."