CITY defender Michael Nelson was pleased to make an earlier-than expected return to first team action when he came on as a late substitute in Saturday's 1-0 win over Swindon at Carrow Road.

Nelson was sidelined by an ankle injury suffered at MK Dons more than month ago - and had only returned to full training days before he was called upon by Paul Lambert to help City preserve their slender lead in the dying stages of Saturday's welcome win.

Speaking at a signing session at The Canary Store in The Mall, he commented: "I've been doing a bit of running with the physio and then towards the back end of the week started training with the lads. Then on Friday when the squad went up, I was in it. Then when the manager announced the squad on the day I was on the bench, then with about five or ten minutes to go I got the shout to warm up and then he put me on.

"It was a bit of a surprise to be on the bench and to be straight back on after not training for a while and not having any minutes in the reserves. I'm over the moon to be back involved in training, but to get on the pitch even though it was only a couple of minutes, it was nice to get back out there."

Nelson admitted patience was the key for a player forced to sit out games through injury - patience and determination to work your way back into the manager's thinking. Now he hopes to continue his comeback in tomorrow's local derby reserve clash against Ipswich at Portman Road (2pm).

He said:  "I've been through it before, when I've been out of the side. You have to be a little bit patient and try and play your way back in. There's reserve games coming up and hopefully I can prove myself there and in training in front of the manager to do well enough to get back in the side again.

"I'm really pleased there was no reaction whatsoever from the ankle from the training and we've had some quite intense sessions so I feel quite confident with the ankle and my fitness so hopefully I can go in tomorrow and do a job.

"I don't know what the plan is, whether it's to give me 45 minutes, an hour, or just see how I go. Obviously the longer I can play the better. If I'm feeling good I'll try and go as long as I can."

Despite the personal frustration of watching from the stands, Nelson said he has been delighted by the good form of his Canary team-mates over recent weeks:

"There's certainly a change in the camp from the early days. Everyone knows that since what happened on the first game of the season that the lads have pulled themselves together, managed to string together not just one or two, but a lot of results together. A little bit disappointing to get the defeat at Leeds, but they've shown the strength of character bouncing back on Saturday.

"We've got to where we don't want to lose and if we're going to lose a game we make sure we don't lose the next one, we come back and get a victory straight away. The lads have done that so it's looking good for the future."

Asked about City's trip into the unknown to face FA Cup First Round opponents Paulton Rovers on November 7, he said he was confident the Canaries could adjust their game to suit the occasion: "You're not going to go there, get it down and pass it about - it's as simple as that. You have to play the conditions not just the team. It's probably going to be a horrible, cold, wet day, the pitch is probably going to be boggy , they're probably going to be really fired up.

"We had a similar game last year at Hartlepool, against a non-league side at their ground, on a horrible pitch, it's just a case of grinding it out.  The lads have shown they've got it in them, we're not just all about getting it down and passing it around and looking pretty. We've ground some pretty decent results out over last few weeks so it's just going to be another one.

"The league's the next game up and that's all we're all really concentrating on now. When it's the cup game I'm sure the manager and coaching staff will do their homework and get as much information on the team as they can, but for now it's Stockport and hopefully another three points on Saturday."