Striker Aaron Wilbraham has spoken for the first time about his exit from Norwich City – and insists there are no hard feelings about being offloaded at the end of last season.

The 32-year-old has signed a two-year deal with Crystal Palace following his release from Carrow Road.

Wilbraham made a total of 28 first team appearances for the Canaries, 11 of them in the Premier League last season, scoring twice.

Former manager Paul Lambert rejected loan inquiries from other clubs for Wilbraham, who was at least on the bench for every first team game except one from mid-October onwards. He scored his 100th career goal in the 2-1 defeat at Fulham in March.

'When you hear the word released it sounds bad – but it didn't feel like that,' said Wilbraham. 'I was involved all season and I really enjoyed it. What the team did was a great achievement.

'I started against Tottenham and Manchester City and played well in those games. I did quite well in all the ones that I came on in.

'When I went into the Premier League I was on 99 career goals and I got my 100th at Fulham – as a kid you dream of scoring at that level – so that was the highlight for me.'

Wilbraham told South London Press that Lambert had treated him fairly.

'Paul Lambert had a chat with me towards the end of the season and said that if he brought in more strikers then I might not find there is the chance to come on and play as much,' he said.

'He said he'd love to offer me something but that he didn't want to put me in that position – that it wasn't fair after what I had done for him and the club.

'Paul said that not playing much would not be good for my career.

'He was honest – that is all you can ask for.'