Scottish midfielder James McArthur knows better than most that Crystal Palace will need to be wary of Alex Neil's Norwich City side on the opening day of the new season.

The 27-year-old played alongside Neil at Hamilton as a youngster, before moving to Wigan for around £500,000 in 2010 and subsequently Palace last summer for a reported £7million.

The Scotland international has been linked with a reunion with Neil in Norfolk already this summer, despite playing a key role for Palace last season, scoring two goals in 33 games.

'I'm really looking forward to the first one,' McArthur said of the Carrow Road clash. 'That's the one all the boys will be looking forward to and get back playing again.

'There's no better feeling than winning your first match. You always keep an eye on when the fixtures come out. It's a good first game for us to go to Norwich but it'll be tough as they'll be full of enthusiasm to try and impress and do well.

'They'll have a little bit of momentum as well from last year but we've got that as well so it's a good game for us.'

Palace follow up their clash with the Canaries with home games against Arsenal and Aston Villa, before heading to Chelsea, hosting Manchester City and travelling to Tottenham – in what looks a tough set of opening fixtures.

'In the Premier League you're going to get runs of games where you think you'll pick up points but you don't get any, and then you have others where you think you won't pick up many and you get lots,' McArthur continued, speaking to his club's website.

'The Premier League is so tough and you need to play well in every match to win but we've got players that can win any game.'