Ben Gibson was prepared for injury setbacks after signing for Norwich City due to a prolonged period without playing regular football at Burnley.

The on-loan defender has impressed supporters with his performances, particularly with his willingness to step out of defence with the ball. The 27-year-old has just returned from a calf strain that ruled him out of action for four weeks.

Gibson was preparing himself for some minor injury niggles throughout the season as his body re-adjusts to playing football on a regular basis for the Canaries.

“I’m feeling really good and it’s nice to be back,” he said. “I hated missing the games through the injury, so nice to get back into the swing of it with two wins and two clean sheets. I’m hoping we can build on that as a team and personally as well.

“After a couple of years of not playing regular football, I did expect this season to be up and down with injuries and that’s something I’m trying my very best to negate but if I can stay fit now and we can put a good run together as a team that would be fantastic.

“I’ve loved every minute of it since I came here. The lads, the staff, the people - everyone I’ve come across has been so kind, positive, warming and welcoming. I honestly couldn’t be happier with how it’s going personally, as a team and as a club.

“It’s literally ticked every box so far so we just want to keep that going now; want to keep winning and I want to keep showing the Norwich fans and the lads here what I can do. I still think I’ve got more levels to bring and move forward.

Norwich Evening News: Grant Hanley and Ben Gibson have looked a solid partnership in central defence for Norwich City.Grant Hanley and Ben Gibson have looked a solid partnership in central defence for Norwich City. (Image: Paul Chesterton)

“As a team, I’m sure we all feel we can do that and take it on another gear so that’s what we’ll be aiming to do and hopefully we can start that on Saturday.”

Gibson will sign for City permanently in a pre-agreed £8million deal providing they can achieve promotion back to the Premier League this season. That extra incentive has helped drive the defender on since he arrived in Norfolk.

Settling into his new surroundings has been aided by the quality of the Canaries players and staff, according to the former Middlesbrough captain.

“It’s been a seamless transition really,” he told City's official website. “The structure that’s in place here, the principles of how we play the game and the quality of players we have here does make it much easier to do.

Norwich Evening News: Gibson has enjoyed his exposure to regular game time at Norwich after two years in the cold at Burnley.Gibson has enjoyed his exposure to regular game time at Norwich after two years in the cold at Burnley. (Image: Paul Chesterton)

“After the slow first few games we’ve really hit the ground running since then and maintained that. We want to be successful and achieve something special so to do that you’ve got to be consistent over 46 games.

“We can only look at one game at a time and we’ve taken a good couple of results and started a new run. We just want to progress that now.”