There's an awful lot of attention on Oxford United as the Championship season kicks off this afternoon.

The U's are playing in their first second-tier game for more than 25 years, competing with some of the country's biggest clubs while at a stadium with just three stands. They're doing it all on the back of a scintillating play-off victory, led by an exciting, young English head coach in Des Buckingham.

But standing in their way is a Norwich City side not short of its own drama, the intrigue of new boss Johannes Hoff Thorup's system overhaul a narrative worthy of plentiful attention.

For him it's not about the underdog story of Oxford's impending survival bid, or the fervent atmosphere their fevered fans provide. It's about the Canaries' mission to transform themselves, and that starts at the Kassam.

"No matter where we go, when we are the away team we can expect a crowd that will be supporting the home team as much as possible," he said at his pre-match press conference. "They will come out with everything they have.

"We have to make sure we are as excited as they are. It's also the first game of the season for us, and I expect that we will perform on a high level from minute one. But also be ready to take that fight that it will be in the beginning of the match.

"When you go as an away team, there will always be a crowd supporting the other team. That's how it is, but our fans will also be backing us up when we need it.

"It's important for us to tell the story that it's also the first game of the season for us. We will come out with full power and full energy."

Part of that ambition to make things about themselves has been Thorup's tactical approach. His side will be aware of the hosts' qualities, but remain focused on their footballing principles.

"It is what we do," he said. "That's the most important part, but we have to know what they do as well. We will never be a team that adapts too much to what they do, but we have to prepare the players on how they play, the strengths, weaknesses, types of players and so on.

"We have to prepare our players, but hopefully what you will see is a Norwich team that, from Saturday to Saturday, look like Norwich, no matter where we play and who it's against.

"But there can be some small details in it, some small tactical adjustments. For the trained eye they'll be easy to find, and for the non-trained eye maybe more difficult to find."

Although the prospect of change has created a productive environment at the newly-named Avant Training Centre this summer, Thorup has noticed a greater intensity as his charges gear up for the real stuff to begin.

"I think we are ready to go," he continued. "What's been good, but also a little bit difficult to handle, is how many players we had to begin with. Some of the more experienced guys came into pre-season a little bit, and we had to manage that team, balance them and find that squad in the last couple of games.

"But we've had some good sessions here in the last couple of days, and I think we're getting close to having a good idea what the squad will look like, starting on Saturday but also going forward this season.

"There's a good energy within the squad, there's a good dynamic. There's a feeling of excitement going into Oxford."

The Dane isn't exempt from that excitement, and says he's looking forward to the challenge of impressing a small but passionate public in the lunchtime kick-off. 

"It's fantastic, it's been like that since day one," he admitted. "I like pre-season as a coach, because there's so much work to be done. You can really feel that you are a football coach when you have the players on the pitch every day.

"But of course also when the season starts. I've just heard we have more or less 1,500 fans in Oxford. It's just fantastic to get started in front of these guys, so we will do everything we can to perform as well as possible, and make sure that we are prepared."