City's on-loan defender John Kennedy today refused to rule out an extended Carrow Road stay and, at the same time, admitted that he is thriving in his new Norfolk surroundings.
While goals have been hard to come by at one end of the pitch, Glenn Roeder's men have a steely determination at the other and the new central defensive partnership of Kennedy and Dejan Stefanovic has been extremely impressive.
The days when Gary Doherty and Jason Shackell were nailed-on starters seem to be long gone and the Stefanovic-Kennedy duo represents the start of a new era at Carrow Road.
But with Bhoys boss Gordon Strachan revealing that he wants the Scot ? who has been plagued with knee injuries since bursting onto the SPL scene five years ago ? to fight for a first-team spot upon his return in January, it was assumed that his Norwich move was strictly a short-term arrangement.
However, it appears to be not as clear cut as was first thought and Kennedy did not close the door on a longer stint in Norfolk.
“We'll wait and see,” Kennedy told Canaries World today, whilst attending an autograph signing session in the Castle Mall.
“That will be up to Celtic and Norwich. I'm enjoying my time so far and long may that continue; you never know what's around the corner. Celtic isn't where everything stops.
“You've got to look at yourself and if it's not going to be there then you've got to move on elsewhere and get your career back on track. But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it; we should know what's going on nearer January.”
Having completed every Championship minute for his new club this season, Kennedy certainly seems to be on the road to recovery after a horrific spell of luck injury-wise.
And the 6ft 2, Bellshill-born defender is just glad to be back doing what he loves best ? playing football.
“It's good to be playing competitive football and I'm just glad to be here and be part of it,” continued the Parkhead Academy product.
“It's been great, everyone has been fantastic. The manager and all the boys have helped with that massively and they've been good with me. It's been easy enough to settle in and I'm just looking forward to it now.”
And was he happy with his form so far?
“I've been OK. It's always difficult coming somewhere new. The team has played well but the results haven't fallen our way. But I'm sure that will fall into place in the coming weeks.”
One thing's for sure, him and his new defensive pal Stefanovic are doing their bit so far. They have been nothing short of outstanding. And Kennedy is certainly enjoying playing alongside the former Portsmouth captain.
“He's been really good. Obviously, it's something new for the both of us and we've had to get used to each other. But we've worked pretty well so far and it's been pretty easy to get used to the way Dejan plays; hopefully likewise for him.”
While the defensive duo were not directly at fault for either of Cardiff's goals at the weekend, conceding two would usually represent a disappointing afternoon.
But after Arturo Lupoli's late brace secured a point for City, Kennedy is hoping that they can use their stirring fightback as a platform to build on ? starting this weekend against league leaders Birmingham City.
“I think we've showed great character, being 2-0 down we could have easily put our heads down and thought that the game was over. But we certainly didn't do that and we pushed all the way to the end.
“Getting a point after going 2-0 down is probably a good result, but we're going to have to start picking up all three points from now on.
“We've struggled to score a bit and then Arturo has come on. We've been waiting for that, to get a goal or two in the game, and that will stand us in good stead.
“Hopefully we can open the floodgates now and get goals coming in from elsewhere. But we've got to put the performances in and win matches.”
And if they can get those first three points under their belt against the high-flying Blues, then suddenly, the Norfolk landscape will appear a lot brighter. It's certainly a big 'if' though. With four wins from four, Alex McLeish's men are on a roll.
“It's going to be a tough game but we won't change our preparations for any team. We'll just do our own thing ? the same as we did last week and the week before ? and hopefully this weekend we can get all three points.”
Tom Haylett
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