NORWICH City's Steven Naismith said his side showed their intentions for the 2016-17 Sky Bet Championship season with a 4-1 opening day win at Blackburn Rovers.

A scintillating first half performance from Alex Neil's men gave them a 3-0 lead at the break, courtesy of goals from Jacob Murphy, Wes Hoolahan and Cameron Jerome.

Naismith himself added a fourth in the second period, ahead of Anthony Stokes' consolation for Rovers, and the Scotland international told Norwich City TV: "It's a great first day of the season.

"It shows our intent and what we want to do this year. Today it was about the result, but with the performance I think we had everything today.

"Everybody in the team knew their roles and it worked well for us. We had to go out there and stamp our authority on the game and that's what we did.

"It clicked into place for the whole team today."

The forward reserved special praise for the impact of Murphy, who set the Canaries on their way by netting with a superb finish from distance on his league debut for the Club.

"Getting the early goal always makes you a bit more relaxed and then you can play the way you want to," he added.

"The first goal is always crucial and it was a wonderful strike. Everybody in the forward positions scored, so I'm sure the manager will be happy with that.

"Every result builds momentum and confidence. We wanted to start the season well and that's what we did.

"We'll now go onto the training pitch this coming week to prepare ourselves for the next game."

STEVEN NAISMITH: A SHOW OF INTENT

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