Korey Smith has described his Oldham move as a 'new adventure' after ending a seven-year stint at Norwich.

The 22-year-old midfielder was one of 10 players released by the Canaries at the end of last season, but Smith had no hesitation in completing a permanent move to Boundary Park after a successful loan stint.

The Hatfield-born player admitted that familiarity paved the way to signing a two-year contract.

'At the end of the day I have returned because I enjoyed living here and also enjoyed my football,' he told Oldham's official site. 'I enjoyed my time here and the lads, manager and everybody around the club were quality. The manager was, like me, a small midfield player and he has helped me and given me advice to improve my game. As he played in my position, he gives me freedom to express myself. I decided this was the best place to come. Hopefully I will play regularly and my career can kick on. It is the start of a new adventure and I am looking forward to the challenge. I'd been at Norwich for a long time and it will be exciting to play somewhere else.'

Smith is under no illusions League One is shaping up to be a competitive division this season.

'I looked at the fixtures and there are some big names in the league,' he said. 'We have to make sure we don't play against names, but play our own game and hopefully give a decent account of ourselves. It looks as though we will again have a very young team which has pros and cons. Hopefully our young lads will be hungry to succeed and we can use their energy in a positive way.'

Latics' chief Lee Johnson has labelled Smith's return as a coup for his ambitious club.

'If we had not courted Korey properly he would have gone elsewhere,' he said. 'It is a classic example of putting in the effort to get a player of his quality. I always believed we would get him because it is the right move for him. Korey knows how highly I rate him and I always trust him on the field. In his time here on loan, he only had one half which was not great. He had better offers financially so it shows the type of guy and his character that money was not the key factor. Korey has won this division with Norwich and is young, hungry and wants to do well.'