John Ruddy believes the way Paul Lambert has revived City's fortunes should be a blueprint for clubs hoping to follow in the Canaries footsteps.

Lambert has taken City from the bottom reaches of League One to within touching distance of a place in the Premier League within the space of 19 months. It's all been done on a shoestring – and Ruddy says other clubs should take note that money doesn't always guarantee success.

'I see every week managers in the league moaning about not having the resources they need to push for promotion,' said the City keeper. 'Effectively, the manager has taken a League One side from last year and turned it into a contender for the Championship and with a budget like the club's got it is a brilliant job he has done.

'A lot of clubs can take what we have done this season and use that, I think – we haven't spent big cash, we have bought in players that he felt would be beneficial to the team and to the squad as a whole and that shows that the manager is very shrewd in his decision making, he's got a good scouting network that works for him and he uses that to his advantage, as we have seen this season.

'The positivity in this squad comes from the manager. He is a very driven person, he wants to win and he knows what sort of character is required because that's the sort of character he is.'