Norwich City boss Paul Lambert is confident Anthony Pilkington can have a major impact for the Canaries this season after his long-awaited bow in Wednesday night's fiesty friendly against Real Zaragoza.

Pilkington entered the fray for the final quarter of City's 1-1 draw against the Spainards following a brief second half power cut at Carrow Road after lightning had plunged the stadium into semi-darkness.

Lambert revealed Pilkington is edging ever closer to full fitness after recovering from the ankle injury that ruled him out of Huddersfield's League One promotion tilt last season.

'I thought he actually lifted the game when he came on. I thought he looked very good,' said Lambert. 'It's a big bonus for us to have him back. He's worked really hard to be fair to him with the fitness lads here. We couldn't do anything about the injury he had, but he's doing really, really well.'

Lambert confirmed midfielder Andrew Crofts and Chris Martin were left out last night due to knocks picked up in the weekend friendly at Coventry.

'Crofty's had an ankle knock from the Coventry game and Chris has a little problem with his hamstring, but we'll have to wait and see how they are,' he said. 'The main thing in these type of games is not to get any injuries. I don't think the game was at full speed or full power and hopefully nobody's injured.

'We thought the lads that started in this one, we'd try to get most of them through the game and it will be the same Saturday. This is a different type of football.'