AUDIO: Norwich City midfielder Korey Smith believes he is coping with the step up to the Championship – and is relishing the chance to play against more of his footballing idols over the season.

The 19-year-old Academy product has made an almost seamless adjustment to life in the second tier this term, after bursting into Paul Lambert’s regular starters in League One last season.

The Championship has already given Smith the chance to come up against a player of Edgar Davids’ stature when Crystal Palace came to town on Tuesday night.

And more is to come as Smith sets about making his own name in the game.

“That’s was a really great experience for me,” said Smith, of coming up against Davids in City’s 2-1 midweek defeat.

“When I was younger I used to grow up watching him when he was in his prime.

“I used to play as him on the Playstation, so when I actually saw him, it was a great experience for me and I was really happy about it.

“In the Championship every team has a couple of players that are big names and on a lot of money and they are very good players. But at the end of the day it’s 11 men against 11 men and you’ve got to go out on the pitch and do the business.

“I think I have adapted quite well to the Championship, but obviously I’m still young, I’m still learning and I know that I might make some mistakes – but hopefully I can keep going and become better.”

Smith made his full debut on the final day of the 2008-09 season – when City were relegated from the Championship at Charlton – but was really given his chance to shine by Lambert, as City marched to the third tier title wiht only a handful of defeats. It means Smith has not been on the losing side often since becoming a professional – so any defeat this season may hurt more than some of his older team-mates.

“Yes maybe, because a lot of lads have gone through a career and they know what losing is like,” said Smith. “Obviously I had that in my first year, when we got relegated which was very hard, so I have witnessed the extreme lows really.

“But as a footballer, just losing any match hursts. We don’t want to lose.

“The Championship is definitely tough. I think we’ve adapted well and had a good start to the season, but you can tell the difference. If we have a little mistake, in this league you get punished for it.

“But we’ve done all right and hopefully we can keep it going. I think a lot of the supporters would have been happy with us being in the top half this year.

“It is very early in the season, so we’ve got to try and continue our form and try to stay up there.”