Paul Jones plans to push hard in Norwich City goalkeeper battle
New Norwich City goalkeeper Paul Jones. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY - Credit: Copyright: Archant 2016
Paul Jones was preparing to face Carlisle in League Two today but is instead adjusting to his new surroundings at Norwich City.
Portsmouth agreed to terminate the 30-year-old keeper's contract after the Canaries made a surprise move to sign the experienced goalkeeper on Thursday.
'I found out late last week, I was at Portsmouth training, preparing for the last pre-season game (against Bristol City) on the Saturday, got a phone call about it and it happened pretty quickly,' Jones said.
'It's out of the blue so I'm just really happy to be here. I've played with Ryan Bennett (at Peterborough) before so I've always stayed in touch with him, so this club doesn't take much selling.'
The Kent-born keeper has over 250 Football League appearances on his CV, with Peterborough, Crawley, Portsmouth and Exeter – and hopes he can put pressure on new team-mates John Ruddy and Michael McGovern.
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'I'd like to think I'm an experienced player now, I'm 30, wherever I've been I've played so I think I've got nearly 500 games under my belt,' Jones continued, having also played in over 100 Conference games for Exeter.
'Hopefully I'll add a bit of experience and I'm not here just to train and be a number, I want to push John, push Michael, because I think that's healthy and we'll see what happens.'
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The former Leyton Orient trainee has played at Carrow Road once before, when Exeter were beaten 3-1 in League One, with current Canaries players Wes Hoolahan and Russell Martin both in action that day.
'I think we lost 3-1 that day, I remember Grant Holt scoring two against me,' the shot-stopper recalled, with Chris Martin having scored the other goal.
'It's top drawer isn't it, such a good atmosphere the fans created that day. Portsmouth was obviously a good atmosphere but this is up a notch again.'
