A long term foot injury on his first start of the season. A red card on his last. Sam McCallum had a turbulent campaign for Norwich City.

In between there was a running battle with Dimi Giannoulis to convince not one but two head coaches he can emerge as the answer on the left-hand side of a defensive unit which feels like it is in transition.

With Max Aarons expected to be one of the club’s most saleable assets this summer, Sam Byram set to depart at the end of his contract, and League One’s young-player-of-the-year and title winner Bali Mumba back at Carrow Road it is all to play for.

Plus a summer charm offensive underway to try and convince Motherwell's highly-rated teenage full back Max Johnston to head south and sign up for City's Championship fightback.

McCallum faced a similar challenge before a ball was kicked this time around, following a Premier League relegation that afforded Dean Smith the chance to freshen things up.

But it was Giannoulis who started on the opening day at Cardiff in the Championship. McCallum made a late cameo for that 1-0 defeat, but it was a League Cup penalty shoot-out win against Birmingham that brought a first start.

McCallum lasted 45 minutes before he went down in front of the away end after making a block tackle. The 22-year-old was unable to continue on the night, but there was no sense in the immediate aftermath of the seriousness of his injury. Or the lay-off.

Smith later confirmed McCallum had undergone surgery for a broken metatarsal, which kept him out until he was pitched back into the fray at Burnley in late October.

A daunting assignment at the best of times, given the manner the Clarets led the Championship field, but after only one day’s full training McCallum answered the call in a depleted backline that also saw Jonathan Tomkinson make his senior debut.

It was a testament to the left back’s professionalism, fitness and character. It also appeared to tip the balance in Smith’s mind to spark a consistent spell of starts either side of the domestic pause for the World Cup, and then through that testing period that culminated in Smith’s exit and caretaker duo Allan Russell and Steve Weaver taking charge.

The Pink Un:

Inevitably elements of the dressing room may have welcomed a fresh face and a different voice to halt a decline in results and performances. McCallum had more reason that most to see Smith remain in post.

David Wagner restored Giannoulis to his maiden Championship line up at Preston; a decision that paled with Tim Krul’s recall for Angus Gunn but would prove no less significant for McCallum.

From there, by and large, if Giannoulis was fit he retained the shirt. McCallum returned for the Easter Monday game against Rotherham, after a tight turnaround from the gruelling away win at Blackburn a few days earlier.

McCallum stayed put for the trip to Middlesbrough but found himself exposed in ruthless fashion by the Teessiders' razor-sharp work down his flank in a sobering first half.

Change had to happen in the aftermath of a 5-1 rout, and but for Giannoulis' concussion  exit at QPR in mid-April McCallum might have been spared a Swansea shift that proved the stuff of nightmares.

A straight red card in the 42nd minute for hauling back Luke Cundle came after he had earlier been beaten in the air by Liam Cullen for the Swans’ second.

In the final analysis, McCallum failed to further his claims to be City's leading man at left back. There was injury, there was a change of coach, but you could argue no change in his status.

With Wagner already professing Mumba is ‘100pc in his plans’ when he returns for pre-season the bigger question is where the German sees McCallum fitting in?

The emphasis he placed on the attacking instincts of Giannoulis and Aarons in those optimistic early forays, before reality bit hard, suggests that will remain a key plank of his strategy for the new season.

McCallum mustered one assist in his 23 league appearances. He will not start from a position of strength when Wagner's remodelled group return to Colney.