Norwich City sign striker Killen

Norwich City have signed New Zealand international striker Chris Killen on loan from Celtic until the end of the season.

City boss Bryan Gunn said: 'I'm delighted to secure his signature. Chris' name has been mentioned to us in the past and we felt it was a good time to pursue the opportunity. Gordon Strachan gave Chris a glowing reference and other people who have come up against him have also been impressed with him.

'He will bring us something different to our forward line, he's a target man with good physique and height and a good football player who will fit into our system and style of play nicely.

'It's an opportunity for Chris to get games under his belt and impress us and our supporters. He has a good work ethic and will also look to run in behind defences and we look forward to welcoming him to Carrow Road.'

The 27-year-old will wear the number nine shirt at Carrow Road and could be available for Tuesday's game at Wolverhampton Wanderers if international clearance is received in time.

Killen began his career at Manchester City but only made three sub appearances for the Blues in a three-year spell. The striker enjoyed loan spells with Wrexham and Port Vale and scored six in ten games for the Valiants in League One.

He signed for Oldham Athletic in July 2002 scoring 23 goals in 90 appearances in all competitions before moving north of the border with Hibernian in January 2006.

The Kiwi made 32 appearances netting 19 times in a one-and-a-half year stint with Hibs, including both goals in a 2-1 home win over Rangers.

Gordon Strachan brought Killen to Scottish giants Celtic in May 2007 but first-team opportunities have been limited with the 6ft striker making only two league starts since signing.

Killen has scored 15 goals in 26 international appearances for New Zealand and scored the second in their historic 3-1 win over Georgia in May 2006 in Germany, the Kiwi's first win on international soil.