Norwich City youngster Saxon Earley may not have played any football on his return to Norfolk, but the impression he's made on loan at Stevenage is hard to ignore, reports Samuel Seaman.

 

Whenever football is being played in Norfolk, you can be sure there will be a Norwich City flavour.

Even on King's Lynn Town's big day, an FA Cup second round against Stevenage in front of the BBC cameras, yellow and green scarves were dotted across The Walks terraces, while owner Stephen Cleeve hoped to borrow a few Canaries supporters during the World Cup break.

The hints of City links weren't limited to fans, either, with two Norwich players taking to the Linnets' finely-trimmed pitch. Neither actually got to play, but the sight of Canaries loan exports Sam Blair and Saxon Earley in conversation was a noteworthy one for any eagle-eyed observers in PE30.

Blair has the role of backup at Lynn, with first choice Paul Jones another flavour of City in the Lynn goal. Earley was also an understudy, his fellow left-back Max Clark chosen for the trip depsite the 20-year-old's impressive League Two form.

The logical assumption is that Norwich featured heavily in the former under-21s team-mates' discourse, with both hoping to break into the first team one day. Earley isn't far away, if his current boss' enthusiasm is to be used as a measuring stick.

"He's been tremendous," said Stevenage manager Steve Evans, more than happy to extend his post-match media duties to discuss the one-time central midfielder. "He's a kid. I think he's had a lot more game time than we probably thought he was going to get when he first came on loan, but he's earned that."

"Today's selection was just a judgment call based on experience, away at a non-league ground with a passionate home support. But Saxon has been superb for us, and Norwich, with Smudger (Canaries head coach Dean Smith) and the team there, have been fantastic with us.

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"When (Earley) first came to us, nobody doubted his enthusiasm, and his aggression, and his strength. But they wanted him to have a little bit more quality on the ball, and that's getting better every week.

"Saxon started last Saturday at Grimsby, and was one of our best players. It was just about the occassion today, the experience needed to get through a cup tie."

Evans may have been keen to praise his young charge, but the self-awareness and humility present in Earley is impressive as he speaks. 

The enthusiasm the Scottish coach referenced is also evident, as he bounces out of the players' tunnel with a smile, despite having kept his tracksuit on throughout the game he's just watched.

For Earley, the lessons learned are too numerous to list. "It's countless," he said, "coming from the youth team into League Two. It's been a good experience. Hopefully I can learn a lot and kick on from there.

"It's been a really good season. I came in and nobody fancied us to be where we are at the moment. The gaffer's got us working hard and we sit second. We've surprised a lot of people. Hopefully we can keep going strong in the second half of the season."

That surprisingly high amount of game time Evans references amounts to 23 first-team appearance, with his first senior game coming only five months ago.

Earley is delighted with the amount of time he's seen on the pitch, and grateful for the experience. He isn't at Stevenage just to smell the Hertfordshire roses, however, and continues to want more.

"I'm very pleased," he says. "Obviously with anyone going on loan it's all about game time and experience. I've worked hard in training and done alright on the pitch as well, so I'm happy with the amount of time I've played.

"Obviously I want to play more, I think everyone does, but it doesn't always happen like that, so I'll just keep working."

Does his temporary posting mean he's forgotten about his parent club, then? Not quite. He signs off by wishing Smith's side luck in their hunt for Championship promotion.

"I keep an eye on it," he assures. "They're around the play-offs at the moment, and hopefully they can kick on in the second half of the season."