AUDIO: Life's been far from normal for Steve Smith since he moved south from Glasgow to join Paul Lambert at Carrow Road.

An ankle injury during pre-season scuppered his immediate hopes of challenging Adam Drury for the left back role.

Then came a surprise late call for his full debut at Bristol City just over a fortnight ago when Drury was injured in the warm-up.

Another Drury injury saw him play a third of the game at QPR on Saturday, testing his fitness and match sharpness to the limit.

But none of that was anything compared to helping partner Claire through the early stages of childbirth on Sunday.

No wonder he's looking forward to the possibility of making his full home debut tonight – against Crystal Palace, with Drury rated a doubt for the game – when he is hoping to show City fans his true colours.

'They mentioned to me at half-time that Adam was struggling a bit so I kept myself warm,' said Smith, who had a brief taste of playing at Carrow Road when he came on for the final nine minutes of the 4-3 win over Leicester.

'You don't really get prepared for the tempo of the match so when I went on I struggled a wee bit personally, but you learn to deal with that. I'm just glad to get away with a clean sheet.

'It's something if I am selected I look forward to. The games I have played in I have been thrown in at the deep end and not really been prepared for it, so I will be hoping to give a better account of myself.

'I have not played football for a while as well, so it is going to take time. The adrenaline probably got me through the Bristol game and that's when you start to struggle a little bit, but I am looking forward to it.

'It is always nice to have that home advantage. We have the momentum and we're picking up good results so we just need to keep that going and keep working hard and keep doing what we are doing and we won't be far away.'

City have a home game against another struggling team, Middlesbrough, on Saturday, but Smith knows the vagaries of the beautiful game don't allow for complacency.

'If you have two or three bad results you can soon be down to 10th or 11th or even further down, so you have to keep that focus, keep that winning mentality and that's something that the manager drills into you,' he said. 'You have to keep that winning mentality and that's what the boys will try to do.

'Every week is a tough game. Crystal Palace are second from bottom of the league, but I don't think that tells the right story. It will be another difficult game and if we don't approach it right then we can come unstuck. You have to approach every game as you do a QPR or a Cardiff.

'To win football matches in this league you have to work very hard and apply yourself in the right way and we will do that again against Crystal Palace.'

n Canaries striker Simeon Jackson has been nominated for October's PFA Player of the Month award.

The Canadian international scored twice in the 3-0 win at Bristol City just before the international break –when he scored his country's opener in a 2-2 draw in Ukraine.

Also nominated are Peter Whittingham of Cardiff City, Leicester's Andy King, Derby's Robbie Savage and Luciano Becchio, of Leeds.