CITY starlet Tom Adeyemi says seeing his Academy colleague Luke Daley make his debut for the Canaries against Burnley at Carrow Road spurred the rest of the Norwich youngsters on in the hope of making their first appearance for the side.
Last weekend saw Adeyemi get one step closer when he appeared on the bench for City in the 1-1 draw at St. Andrew's, alongside youth team captain Korey Smith. Reflecting on the experience, 17-year-old Adeyemi told canaries.co.uk he was delighted with his achievement.
"I think it was the proudest moment of my career so far," he said. "It was obviously great to be involved in that first team environment and to witness first hand what goes on. It was a really good taster for me and I'm very hopeful the manager will give me another chance before the end of the season.
"Seeing Luke make his debut gave me confidence the manager was willing to give the younger lads a chance - all the Academy lads in the dressing room were really excited when they saw Luke was playing. It made them feel that there might be an opportunity for someone else come the end of the season."
He continued: "I think I've got youth on my side, I'm just hoping I can make a step in the right direction as quickly as possible whether it's this year or next."
After signing his professional contract with the Club in November last year, the young midfielder told First News he owed much of his success to Norwich City staff: "I started with Soccer Schools when I was seven or eight with Football in the Community.
"I spent a lot of time with Director of FITC Ian Thornton, and he really helped me out when I was younger and then I moved on and got picked up by the development centre. From there I got picked up by the Academy and I've been working closely with Ricky Martin for a number of years now. The Club's invested a lot in me over the years so I feel I've got to give something back, that's my aim.
"When I started I just played for enjoyment and then gradually you start to think maybe I have got a chance of making it and what started as fun could maybe turn into a possible career. When I was 13 or 14, there was a stage where I was at the same stage in cricket as I was in football and I wasn't sure which way to go. But football's always been my main passion and I stuck with that."
With the Canaries currently 20th in the division, Adeyemi added he could relate to the supporters in their hopes for Championship survival. "I've been a Norwich season ticket holder since I was seven, and now I'm really living the dream because it's a team I've supported for most of my life.
"It's great to have a legend at the Club now being the head of the management team and that's my aim for the future, to become a Norwich legend. I've been one of the supporters for many years so I know what it's like to watch a youngster run out because all the crowd get really excited, and I'd love it to be me.
"It's looking positive over the last few weeks and it's important to the Club we find enough points to stay up. It's still very tight at the bottom and it could still go either way, but I think the lads have shown they're good enough to pull through."
