Whittaker back in familiar surroundings after move south

Football Writer

Tuesday 24 July 2012

THE departure of Paul Lambert has done little to cool the warm relationship developing between Celtic and Norwich City.

Custom byline text:

Graeme Macpherson

The bond between former Parkhead team-mates Lambert, now overseeing a new managerial challenge at Aston Villa, and Neil Lennon was strengthened when the latter took a team to Carrow Road in May to play in Adam Drury's testimonial, and this evening Celtic will take their turn as hosts as both teams step up their pre-season preparations.

It won't be entirely amicable, however. Norwich used their friendly game with Hertha Berlin at the weekend to give a debut to Steven Whittaker and the former Rangers defender will likely get another run-out in familiar surroundings this evening. He already knows what to expect. "I'll probably get a bit of abuse but I'm used to that anyway," he said. "It'll be good to get back up to Scotland and play there again. I'm going to be down in England now for a few years so its nice to go back so quickly."Whittaker, who elected not to transfer his contract to the Rangers newco to pursue a new challenge in the Barclays Premier League, travelled with Norwich to their training base in Austria and used the opportunity to get to know his new team-mates. Having settled in, he now hopes to establish himself in the team, where Russell Martin, the Scotland internationalist, will likely provide the main competition for a place. "It's been great [training in Austria]," he added. "It was a different environment but it gave me a chance to meet the boys. They've made me feel welcome. I'm looking forward to getting in the team, first and foremost. Full-back is where I have been playing and I like to get forward and take part in the game and swing some crosses into the box and create some goals. I'll just be looking to slot in there and hope the team can continue the form they have shown over the past few seasons."He is not the only one looking forward to tonight's game. Kris Commons scored his first ever senior goal against Norwich during his time as a Stoke City player and retains fond memories of regular Championship battles between the sides. "I always remember playing against them when I was at Stoke, as a kid, especially because my first ever professional goal was against them," he told the Celtic website. "I was 17 at the time and we were in the Championship. I picked the ball up just beyond the halfway line and played a little one-two with the forward and slid it into the bottom corner. Norwich were always a big team when they were in the Championship. They were always up there fighting for promotion so this was a big deal for me. I'll never forget playing against them."With the Premier League not starting until August 18, Norwich – who may also field Simon Lappin, the former St Mirren midfielder – are still early in their pre-season preparations but Commons still expects a difficult outing. "It was good to play Premiership opposition and Norwich proved they are no easy pushover in the top division," he added. "It will be another good test for us and another good indication as to where we are in terms of preparation. We have a lot of big games coming up and this is definitely one of the big ones. People will earmark Inter Milan and Real Madrid but Norwich is another massive one. I'm not going to look at any and say one is going to be harder than another. They will all be big tests for us."

Contextual targeting label:

Sport

Commenting & Moderation

We moderate all comments on HeraldScotland on either a pre-moderated or post-moderated basis. If you're a relatively new user then your comments will be reviewed before publication and if we know you well then your comments will be subject to moderation only if other users or the moderators believe you've broken the rules, which are available here.

Moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours. Please be patient if your posts are not approved instantly.

Whittaker back in familiar surroundings after move south

Commenting & Moderation

MOST READ

SPONSORED LINKS

MOST COMMENTED