STEVEN Whittaker is determined to make the most of a new lease of life at Norwich City, ahead of Saturday's Sky Bet Championship game away to Birmingham City.

The Scotland international defender fell out of favour during the second half of the 2015-16 campaign, but was handed a fresh one-year deal by manager Alex Neil in the summer.

He subsequently made his first appearance since October as a substitute on the opening day at Blackburn, before also coming off the bench in last weekend's East Anglian derby at Portman Road.

"I'm delighted to get the opportunity to be playing again," Whittaker told the media at Colney Training Centre on Friday afternoon.

"Not being around the team towards the end of last season, I thought I was going to leave. It was tough as it was the first time in my career I'd experienced something like that.

"Being in the Championship, the manager remembered the job I'd done for him the last time we were at this level. I was delighted to prolong my stay here and now I want to crack on and play well.

"With Ivo [Pinto] having an injury, hopefully I'll have a chance to play this weekend."

City have begun their bid to return to the top flight well, notching up eight points from their opening four games in addition to cruising into the EFL Cup Third Round with a thumping win over Coventry City.

"There have been positives because we're undefeated and have kept a couple of clean sheets," the 32-year-old added.

"We can look at that and try to push forward. On the first day of the season we showed we can attack and be a threat, so if that clicks then we'll score a few goals.

"It's going to be a tough season but we're fully equipped to give it a good shot. We'll be going to Birmingham looking to get three points, and if we do what we want to I'm sure we can do that.

"If we do our jobs properly on the day we've got the ability to come out on top in most matches."

STEVEN WHITTAKER: ENJOYING EVERY MOMENT

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