Having not been involved in either of Norwich City's humiliating relegations from the Premier League in 2019/20 and 2021/22, Sam McCallum can provide something of a fresh voice in the dressing room this pre-season.

The flying left back showed his class in patches, during an injury-hit loan spell at Queens Park Rangers last term.

It does feel like McCallum is set to earn his first extended crack in the first team with the Canaries this season, after arriving from Coventry City in January 2020.

The 21-year-old gave an insight into his battle with Dimitrios Giannoulis for the left back berth under Dean Smith when he spoke to The Athletic.

He said: "I feel like I need to get my head down.

"Dimi is in the squad at the moment, but pre-season is a clean slate and everyone is on the same level.

"Dimi is a great player and I feel like with the competition, there won’t be any bad blood between us.

"I feel like we’re going to look to push each other.

"And you know what? Maybe a couple of weeks he will be in the spot and then another couple of weeks, I will be, because the games come thick and fast and we might need to rest players and change the team around."

In the absence of Daniel Farke and Emiliano Buendia, Norwich may have more difficulty in pushing towards an immediate return to the top-flight this season, but new members of the camp, like McCallum can help fill that void.

The Verdict

Giannoulis was unable to nail down a starting berth last season, and for that reason the left back position is very much up for grabs in pre-season.

McCallum played as a wing back under Mark Warburton in West London last season, and could be a more viable option in 2022/23, if Smith decides to switch to a three at the back system at any stage.

The Canaries will be amongst the favourites to compete for automatic promotion, having destroyed the rest of the field with a similar squad in 2020/21, but with the likes of Middlesbrough, Sheffield United and Luton Town producing excellent second halves to last term, they will not be without their challengers this season coming.