He has been one of the few rays of light in a dark couple of months for Norwich City and Nelson Oliveira has pledged to keep working hard to continue his rapid progress.

The Portuguese striker has scored three goals in his last four games and his substitution in the second half of last week's disappointing 2-1 loss to Huddersfield prompted resounding boos from around Carrow Road.

After a quiet start to his Canaries career following a £5million switch from Benfica, Oliveira is quickly becoming a fans' favourite – and loving it.

'It's nice for me because I feel the support of them and when I play, especially at home, I feel good,' he said ahead of tomorrow's clash with Reading.

'It's better if the fans like you and appreciate you so I want to say thank you to the fans and I will keep working hard to make them happy.'

After spending Christmas Day with his City compatriot Ivo Pinto and their wives – with Pinto cooking the turkey – the 25-year-old is turning his attentions to a tough match against the third-placed Royals.

'I think the last few games we've won two and lost two. I think the games against Barnsley and Huddersfield we don't start properly in the first half, we don't play well in the first half,' he said.

'After we react in the second half it's late because you start losing in the first half. But this is the past, we need to start thinking of the next game in Reading and forget the last few games.'

The former Nottingham Forest and Swansea loan striker feels City travel in good spirits – despite seven defeats in nine games.

'I think we trained well this week,' he added. 'We forget the last game because we have to and we focus on the Reading game and how we can play to win the game instead.'