Midfielder Jonny Howson is confident a change of manager will not put the brake on his – or Norwich City's – Premier League progress.

Howson was the last but one signing made by former boss Paul Lambert before his end-of-season defection to Aston Villa.

The 24-year-old made 11 first team appearances for the Canaries last season after recovering from the knee injury that delayed his debut following a �2m move from Leeds United in January, and he helped his new club finish in 12th place in the top flight.

After snapping up the player from Elland Road, Lambert forecast a big future for Howson at Carrow Road, but the Yorkshireman dismissed the idea that the former manager's exit was a personal blow.

'No, I wouldn't say so. In my short career I've had five or six different managers that I've played under, so nothing really changes there,' he said.

'I'm very grateful to Paul Lambert bringing me to the club and giving me Premier League football.

'But you've got to impress every day, no matter who the manager is. Nothing changes in how you apply yourself as a player.

'The manager can point us in the right direction, tell us how he wants us to play but as a player, you're the one that goes out there and does it.

'I don't think it was a case of it being all Paul Lambert because the players went out there and achieved that. It's about getting a good mix between the manager and the staff and all helping each other out.'

He added: 'Players and staff move on and as an individual you've just to get on with it.

'When a manager moves on, I'm sure he does it for his own reasons and we as players just carry on as normal as we can, carry on doing our own jobs and that's all we have to concentrate on – doing our jobs for the team and what's best for Norwich City.

'I think if you do that, come in each day to do the best you can, you won't go too far wrong.'

New manager Chris Hughton has had five days with his squad at Colney since they returned to work and they fly out to Austria tomorrow for a week's training followed by the first pre-season game against Hertha Berlin.

'We've only been back this week and it's still early days for him and the other staff that have come in – it's a case of going away next week and in the coming weeks you get to know each other more,' said Howson.

Persistent rain left the ground at Colney yesterday saturated as the squad went through their morning training session with last season's injured trio, Marc Tierney, Daniel Ayala and James Vaughan, showing no ill effects. Howson was certainly not complaining about the conditions.

'You normally come back and it's boiling hot so this is a bit different,' he said. 'I think it helps a little bit when you're doing running sessions or even the football. It's nice when it's a bit cooler.

'With having the rain you get a nice zip on the pitch. It's always nice to get away after a long, hard season and recharge your batteries but in the last week of the holidays you're always itching to get back and get into the swing of things.

'I had a handful of games at the back end of last season and enjoyed them all.'