Man Utd defender Ritchie De Laet insists that he has returned to the club a better player for the mistakes he made whilst at Norwich.
United defender feels loan spell at Norwich was of benefit
Manchester United defender Ritchie De Laet insists that he has returned to the club a better player for the mistakes he made whilst on loan at Norwich City.
The Belgian started the season at Carrow Road, making seven appearances and scoring his first career goal, before injury cut short the loan spell.
The 23-year-old hopes to make his mark on the United first team before the end of the season and says he definitely will not be making the same mistakes again if and when he gets a chance to pull on the red shirt.
"It was something new obviously, going into the Premier League, but I'd been on loan before so that wasn't a huge shock to me," De Laet told
Sky Sports.
Punished
"It started off really well, scored a goal and made a few mistakes, which is bound to happen to a young player new to that level of football. Every time I made a mistake I got punished for it and then the injury didn't help matters.
"The chance to work with a great manager in Paul Lambert down there was good too because he helped pick me up after those mistakes were made.
"The way he runs the club there is very similar to here at United, so overall the loan spell helped me a lot.
"You can't compare training to playing first-team football in the Premier League because it is played at such a high intensity and pace.
"However, training alongside world-class players here at United every day can help you fine tune your game and helps you develop as a player."
The Canaries have gone on to establish themselves in the Premier League with ease and De Laet hopes to see the club remain a top-flight fixture for many years to come.
He added: "I could see in pre-season how well they were going to do this year in the Premier League because they've got some quality players there.
"The style of football they play down there is the right way to play when entering the top flight and the backroom team there are fantastic as well.
"They've shown everyone this season how good a team they are and have proven very hard to beat at both home and away.
"I hope that they can continue to do the same for the rest of the season and then take it into next year and onwards because the fans there deserved to see top-flight football again."
