Aston Villa boss Paul Lambert insists there has been no thawing in relations with Norwich's top brass ahead of his latest return to Carrow Road.

Lambert's acrimonious move to Birmingham in the summer of 2012 triggered a long-running compensation battle that was only finally resolved towards the end of last season. The Scot has since returned to his former club for young keeper Jed Steer and a number of City's support staff. Asked at his pre-match press call ahead of the trip to Norwich whether there was any prospect of hand shakes in the boardroom, Lambert said: 'No. There will be none of that. But the fans have always been good with me. There's no animosity. As I said, it's gone.

'I don't have anything to prove. The Norwich thing is finished. It's gone. The two times I've been back the majority of the crowd have been really good with me. Whether it's Norwich or anyone else we're playing, we've got to try to bounce back (from defeat to Newcastle). I had three great years at Norwich. The fans were great, the lads who played for me were great and I had nothing but good memories there. But what happened after that, happened.

'We don't play any other way than trying to win. We'll go down there with a great following and if the fans are anything like they were the last time we went there then it'll make it a good atmosphere. We had two great wins there last season and we'll try to win again. We know we've got a good record there.'