Canary delight at on-song loan Don

Norwich City manager Alex Neil is delighted midfielder James Maddison is flourishing on loan at the Dons.

The 19-year-old joined the Dons on deadline day on a loan deal until January – and has wasted little time in winning over the Dons support with his first goal in the 3-1 at Dundee before the added-time winner in a 2-1 victory against Rangers with a sublime 25-yard free kick.

Norwich paid Coventry £2.5million to sign Maddison in February – a fee that could rise to £6million.

And former Hamilton manager Neil, below, said: “I’ve seen the free kick. I spoke to James and congratulated him on it. He will be a top-quality player, unfortunately at the moment I’ve still got Wes Hoolahan who has got a little bit more left in him and the likes of Alex Pritchard and Steven Naismith as well, so I couldn’t guarantee James minutes.

“We came to a good decision to let him go and get games and he’s shown up really well so far up there. That’s great for him.”

And the Norwich City manager believes the midfielder will return to Carrow Road a better player following his spell with the Dons.

He said: “James is a quality player, there’s absolutely no questions about that. He will become better and better as he gets older and more experienced.

“He’s enjoying his football just now and there’s nothing better as a player, particularly a young lad, when you score the winner, a free kick into the top corner. It doesn’t get much better than that.”