Norwich City: Canaries' boss on homecoming against Osasun...a

(Pinkun)

hilippe Clement is delighted to be back on home turf this weekend as the Canaries play host to La Liga outfit Osasuna in their penultimate pre-season outing.

It marks the first of four fixtures at Carrow Road in August, with competitive action getting underway against MK Dons in the first round of the Carabao Cup on August 8 before the Championship campaign begins a week later at home to West Brom.

The only domestic opportunity City supporters have had to watch Clement's side in action this summer came in last week's stalemate at AFC Wimbledon, making Saturday's return in front of the home faithful all the more special.

"Yes, that's going to be special for us as well, coming home and having our fans back," Clement told club channels after the Fulham win.

"I hope a lot of people come to the game because I can say the team is super, super hungry to get back out there. They've already worked really hard.

"The internationals have had a tough week as well. You saw Mo (Toure) and Ali (Ahmed) here. They only just came back and have gone straight into tough training. We want to get them back up to speed as quickly as possible.

"Of course, they still need a few weeks to get fully up to speed, but I'm really pleased with the squad."

Osasuna provide a stern test despite a difficult campaign last season, finishing 17th in the Spanish top-flight and narrowly avoiding relegation. They head to NR1 on the back of a 2-1 victory over Norwich's bitter East Anglian rivals Ipswich Town on Wednesday evening.

Defender Ruairi McConville admits he is excited to embrace the challenge in front of the home supporters.

"I can't wait. It'll be really nice to see everyone again and hopefully get as many people there as possible," he said.

"Again, we'll try to put on as much of a show for them as we can and show them how excited we are and that we can't wait for the season to get started.

"I'm sure with any Spanish side you can expect them to be good on the ball. It'll be something different, and it'll be nice to get that preparation for the season because I'm sure there'll be times when we'll be without the ball.

"That'll be good, and hopefully we can take the form we've already shown in pre-season into the game and get another win to finish pre-season well."

Posted By: DrDublin, Jul 31, 10:46:57