Simeon Jackson has revealed how he almost left Norwich City - before a stunning run of form which ensured his name would go into the club’s history books.

Jackson exploded into action in the final weeks of the 2010-11 season, with nine goals in eight games.

It was a hat-trick against Scunthorpe which set the ball rolling, with another stunning treble following three weeks later in a famous home win over Derby County. The icing on the cake came at Portsmouth, when Jackson scored the only goal of the game, which clinched City’s return to the Premier League.

But none of it would have happened had the jet-heeled striker taken up then manager Paul Lambert’s offer of a January loan - so that he could bring in striker Craig Mackail-Smith. Jackson said no – and the rest is history.

“January came along and it was the position at the time, it was true because I wasn’t really getting the minutes,” said the Canadian, who Lambert had signed from Gillingham the previous summer for £600,000.

Simeon Jackson was speaking to The Athletic’s podcast Going Up, Going Down

“I had already played with Craig Mackail-Smith and that was who the swap was supposed to be, it involved Craig.

“At the time he (Lambert) must made everyone believe we were a part of it, the way he changed the team sometimes and one week he’d play and one week he wouldn’t and he would throw you in at random times.

“And I was just honest and I said, look gaffer, I have bought into everything we are doing here and I just believe that when I get my chance I will take it and i don’t want to go on loan. I just feel I want to stay here and fight for my chance and be a part of it’ and he said ‘okay, fine’ and it didn’t happen. And I just ended up having one of the best experiences of my whole life.

“Afterwards and the celebrations, you don’t really get much time to reflect afterwards because everyone is celebrating and you are doing a million things at once. I was just chaos.

“I went straight into internationals just afterwards so didn’t really get a chance to have a reflective moment. I remember just before the season started it actually hit - this is the Premier League now.”