Robert Green reckons he is just a few weeks away from making a permanent return to Norwich City's training fields. The Canaries keeper is still recovering from the horrendous groin injury which shattered his World Cup dreams - but he says he can see light at the end of the tunnel.

Robert Green reckons he is just a few weeks away from making a permanent return to Norwich City's training fields.

The Canaries keeper is still recovering from the horrendous groin injury which shattered his World Cup dreams - but he says he can see light at the end of the tunnel.

“I have been back in training now for probably a month and slowly getting more and more out on the pitches rather than just the gym, and hopefully a few more weeks and I will be out on the training pitch permanently,” said Green.

Then it's a case of becoming match fit, and Green hopes that will come quickly.

“My personal aim is to be back in full training in a few weeks and probably after a couple of weeks of that - it is obviously up to the manager when I am fit for selection, and the physios, but if I get into full training in a few weeks then hopefully that is my aim.”

Green is clearly becoming restless and relishing the chance to put Paul Gallacher under pressure for the starting jersey.

“I am pushing the physios all the time rather than them pushing me,” he said. “ I am not one to sit around not doing a lot so I am sure it is refreshing for them to have someone biting their arm off to get back. It's a challenge for them as well.”

As well as attempting to secure the No1 shirt, Green will be eager to re-establish himself in the England squad - and he revealed that his international team-mates were thinking of him in Germany.

“From the players to the coaching staff to the kit man everyone was really good,” he said. “They got me a small gift on the day of the opening game, so it was just a really nice touch to say they have not forgotten you, even though they are in this massive thing. It (a hamper) got delivered on the morning so it was a nice touch to know they were still thinking about me.”

Green's return will inevitably spark speculation about his future, with rumours rife that he was bound for a return to the Premiership before fate dealt its cruel blow.

“It is a question that is hypothetical and I can't really answer,” he said.

“If I had stayed fit then maybe I would have moved, but you really don't know. If David James or Paul Robinson had got injured I would have been touted to go off somewhere.

“It has been happening - I can't remember when I came into the first team on a full time basis, 2001 or 2002 and it started then, five years of it. I don't tend to read the papers, people have to fill bits in with stuff and I let them go into it.”

For now he has to watch City from the stands - not his favourite position.

“I wouldn't say I am a great spectator,” he said. “It is sometimes tough enough watching Norwich from one end let alone from the stands so it will be a strange experience. I watched a few of the games last season and that was a strange experience for myself but it's one it's good to have because it reinvigorates yourself and it reinstalls that I want to be out there and have that urgency to get back on the pitch. I will know what I am missing out on.”