CITY'S Sammy Clingan says he was determined not to let anything stop him when he faced the Derby goalkeeper from the penalty spot at Carrow Road on Saturday.

After Rams stopper Roy Carroll was shown the red card for catching Leroy Lita as the loan striker threatened to score on his debut, Clingan's spot kick was too good for substitute 'keeper Stephen Bywater.

On securing City's only goal of the game, Clingan told canaries.co.uk: "I knew what corner I was going to put it in and I wasn't going to let anyone change my mind. Even when the 'keeper came on he told me he was going to save it but I knew he wasn't going to.

"Just as he came on he had a word and said that he was going to stop it, but he was just trying to put me off. I just stuck to the decision that was in my head and thankfully it went in."

Returning to action after suffering a shoulder injury picked up while on international duty, the midfielder said he found Saturday's game a frustrating match to return to: "It was frustrating, especially when we got back into the game after half-time and we got the penalty; we thought we could go on and win it.

"We've made a bad mistake, Marshy's been brilliant all season and you can't put the blame on him because he's kept us in a lot of the games this year. Hopefully when we get back from the two-week break we can bounce back well against Bristol City.

"We thought when we got the goal we weren't really in any danger but when you think that, the game kicks you in the teeth and it's happened to us and we have to learn from that."

Clingan told reporters after Saturday's game he wouldn't be featuring in Northern Ireland's forthcoming World Cup qualifiers against Slovenia and San Marino. He added: "I've just pulled out, my shoulder is still a bit sore. I had an injection at half-time to keep me on the pitch because I made a challenge just after 25 minutes and I felt it going again, so I'm just going to give it time to recover and hopefully I'll be back for Bristol City.

"It's always frustrating when you're injured and when you come and watch the games you always want to be out there. You just have to be patient with it and I was, it's just unlucky to come back and have a little setback. If the physios are happy enough with it I'll be back in two weeks' time and I've just got to look forward to then."