McConville outlines City mission to get Brooks firing

Andre Brooks’ arrival has already injected excitement into Norwich City's squad, and Ruairi McConville believes it is now up to the players to help maximise his impact.

The Jamaican international’s big-money move from Sheffield United raised eyebrows across the Championship, and the early signs have fuelled that anticipation further after a positive first outing for Brooks in their 3-0 victory over St Gallen in Switzerland on Friday night.

Brooks’ direct running, quick feet and sheer pace backed up what McConville has seen from City’s latest addition in training and are attributes that have caught the attention of his new colleagues.

“Even when we saw him in the training ground before he signed, there were boys who were excited about seeing him around the place because they knew what he was capable of,” the Northern Irishman told the Pink Un.

“We saw so many bits in training already. He's sharp, he's direct, and he wants to score goals, and that's what we need. We need goals from all areas, and it's so important to have that quality in the squad.

“We've all got to feed them in a way as well. You look at Harry (Darling) tonight, constantly looking to give him the ball because it's what you want. You want to get him in one-versus-one situations. That's what we'll try to do.

"We'll keep working on it, and now our focus is straight to Wimbledon and Fulham and two games in our camp next week, and obviously also sooner before the cup game.”

Andre Brooks made his first Norwich City appearance in their impressive 3-0 friendly win over St Gallen. (Image: Philipp Kresnik)

Norwich’s swoop for Brooks was driven by a desire to lift the quality within the group that Philippe Clement dragged up the Championship table last season. It remains early days, but the 22-year-old has made a positive, bright first impression.

“From what I've seen so far, he's a really exciting player and one that we're very happy to have in our squad,” McConville said.

“We saw glimpses of him tonight, and he's obviously been settled in coming back from an injury, but he's going to be so important for us next season. We've got to use that to our advantage, and obviously, he's going to push the other players to get to that other level to compete with him.

“We have so many players in that position and boys coming back from injury as well. It's bright. We're excited with what we have, so hopefully we can just keep building on it."