Norwich City old boy Chris Martin is gunning for a swift Premier League return after a prolific spell to help fire Derby towards the Championship summit.

The 25-year-old notched his first-ever league hat-trick in the recent 5-1 league win over Blackpool to take his personal tally to 13 goals in 22 appearances since being released by the Canaries. Martin knows exactly what it will take to get promoted after being part of the City squad who reached the top flight in 2011.

'Now its about not getting too carried away and that applies to me as much as the lads. We're on a bit of a high at the moment,' he said. 'It has been pretty special for me. If you had offered me five goals in a week I would have snapped your hand off. It was the second hat-trick of my career, but a first league hat-trick. I don't know if my little boy will let me keep the match ball on the mantelpiece. He will probably have it away and try to do keepy ups with it.

'I am delighted to get into double figures and hopefully there are many more to come. I am getting a lot of praise because I am the one who gets to finish it off, but you don't have to work too hard to finish off penalties. It's not like I am doing all the work, but if we can continue to do what we are doing then we will be up there.'

New Rams' boss Steve McLaren has had an immediate impact since replacing Nigel Clough at Pride Park with Derby now up to fourth, five points behind leaders Burnley.

'We're a hungry group and I think that is key. We all want to do well and have success and I think if we have that we are on to something,' he told the club's official site. I've said it many times the infrastructure is here.'