‘It’s crazy’ – Max Aarons on his rise up the Norwich City ranks

Max Aarons - taking things in his stride Picture: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd (Image: Paul Chesterton)

The 18-year-old has been one of the undoubted stars of a season that keeps getting better for City, who sit on top of the Championship table ahead of Saturday's visit to Swansea.

'Sometimes I have to sit back and think it's crazy what I'm doing at the minute,' Aarons told the club's official web site.

'But my aim is just to keep it going and play as well as I can each week. I just want to keep improving.

'It's hard at the moment. I haven't been able to get much rest in at the moment with the games and then going away with England.

'But it's what I want to do. It's why you play football. I love the fact the games come thick and fast and I'm really enjoying it.'

The young full-back made his first senior appearance in the derby draw at Ipswich in September and has kept Ivo Pinto out of the side ever since.

Aarons has also featured for England Under-19s, playing in a 3-1 win over Iceland as the Young Lions reached the Elite Round of Uefa Euro 2019 qualifying. It was a game which featured two other young City players in the opposition ranks, Atli Barkarson and Isak Thorvaldsson.

'I told them that we were going to beat them before and after the win, I gave them a bit more stick,' said Aarons.

'England is really exciting to be a part of. There is so much excitement around the place since the World Cup and everyone there is very motivated and keen to continue achieving good things.

'The style is very much like the England senior team as well. When we all join up, we watch videos of them and look at how they try to play.

'We get told to play in a similar way. It's crazy to think that some of the senior guys were playing for the Under-19s, like me, a few years ago. It's a huge inspiration to see them walking around St George's Park when I'm there.'

It's back to domestic matters at Swansea on Saturday, with Aarons determined to help keep City top after the dramatic 4-3 home win over Millwall a fortnight ago.

'I couldn't find my head after the Millwall game,' he said. 'It was all over the place. We were in the lead, losing, and then won so late. I won't forget it for a while.

'We have such a great never-say-die attitude. If we go behind, we still feel like we can win games which is really good and you know you're so tight as a team when you can turn games around.

'Obviously they [Swansea] came down from the Premier League last season, so we know how tough it's going to be. They have Premier League proven players in their team so we'll have to be at our best, which we believe we can be.

'The way we are playing at the moment, we can only go there full of confidence.'