Defender Leon Barnett has warned Premier League teams to underestimate Norwich City at their peril this season.

After his first goal of the campaign helped the Canaries to a 2-1 win over Sunderland at Carrow Road, the 25-year-old centre-half said they could benefit from the low expectations of others.

Paul Lambert's men visit leaders Manchester United on Saturday, their confidence boosted by moving into the top half of the table courtesy of their first home victory of the season, but given little chance of causing an upset.

'We can go to Old Trafford with no one expecting anything of us but I hope we can put in a good performance,' said Barnett.

'There will be no real pressure on us, and I think a lot of teams in the Premier League will have underestimated us, which has gone in our favour, really, because we are a hard-working team. There is not much Premier League experience but I think everybody is happy to put in a shift.

'We will go to Manchester United and do our best. That is all we can do. It is not going to be easy because they have star quality players, but all the lads are looking forward to it.

'We have two wins behind us and sometimes we need to enjoy winning because it's going to be a hard season for us and it's good to know we can go to Old Trafford with a smile on our faces. The shackles are off for us now.'

Barnett's first-half goal was his second for City, and his first for 10 months, as he tucked away Elliott Bennett's cross to open the scoring in the televised fixture.

He said: 'It was coming out from a corner and sometimes I try to stay up as long as I can before the gaffer tells me to get back, so it paid off this time.

'It's like I said to Grant Holt, I think he needs to watch my movement. I drift in and out of offside and I was quite fortunate with the great ball that Benno put in the box.

'The strikers were saying to me that you dream of those goals, so it was quite nice to get a touch and score but the main thing was the win.'

Barnett conceded two of the five penalties awarded against City in the first five Premier League games, but was delighted to help write more positive headlines.

'I think in the past few games the whole team collectively has been hard done by, by referees giving red cards and penalties so it's nice not to get a penalty given against us today. It's another win so I hope people can start speaking about us more positively,' he said.