Norwich City manager Bryan Gunn is hoping he has unearthed another non-league gem after taking Cambridge City winger Scott Neilson on trial. The 22-year-old, who turned out for the Canaries' Under-11 side 11 years ago, has been a success at the Southern League club and now has a chance to impress the Norwich coaching staff.

Norwich City manager Bryan Gunn is hoping he has unearthed another non-league gem after taking Cambridge City winger Scott Neilson on trial.

The 22-year-old, who turned out for the Canaries' Under-11 side 11 years ago, has been a success at the Southern League club and now has a chance to impress the Norwich coaching staff - in the same way that Cody McDonald did to secure a move to professional football from Dartford last season.

"He's on trial so it depends how it goes but he's looked sharp and looked fit in the testing," said Gunn. "I've not seen him with the ball at his feet at Norwich City yet, so that will happen in the course of the next week and then we'll see how it goes.

"We've got friendly games coming up so it might be an opportunity, if things go well, to get permission from Cambridge City to ask him to play in those games as well.

"He's known about this (trial) over the course of the summer so it looks as if he's been training hard during the summer and he's hit the ground running very quickly, because he's a very quick player.

"As I said to him the other day, it's a great opportunity for him to come in and see how the professionals do it. Obviously he's playing at a semi-professional level at the moment, but we'll see how he progresses during the week."

Gunn will be hoping the midfielder could be an ideal replacement for City's reigning player of the season, Lee Croft, who completed his move to Derby over the summer after turning down a deal to stay at Carrow Road.

"Scott's a very quick, busy player who can score a goal," added Gunn. "He will take people on, get past people, get crosses into the box and again it just shows you if you do scour the lower leagues, non-league level, there are players there who might just surprise you and are able to make the step up.

"We'll watch him closely. There are no guarantees, it was an invitation to come down for pre-season training on the back of some good reports on him and he's a lad who looks like he wants to be a football player.

"He's got Croft's explosive power, so it's a great opportunity for him to come here and impress all of us."