Nathan Redmond has insisted that he is fit enough to start for Norwich City away at Sunderland on Saturday afternoon.
The winger was used as a substitute during the 3-1 defeat to Crystal Palace last weekend, with manager Alex Neil having claimed that Redmond "did not look ready to start" following his exploits in the summer with the England Under-21s at the European Championships.
However, the 21-year-old has stressed that he is "ready" to feature from the beginning of a Premier League encounter.
"The gaffer has his reasons in what team he wants to play and essentially as a professional footballer you have to respect that. Whether I'm starting or on the bench I've got to give my support to the boys and when called upon I've got to be ready," the Eastern Daily Press quotes Redmond as saying.
"I didn't play 90 minutes in our pre-season because I played three nineties the previous month [for England]. My last 90 was on June 24. So it's not really been about minutes for me. It's been about maintaining me and making sure I didn't blow up over pre-season.
"If I'd have had to start on Saturday I'd have been fully up for it but I had to come off the bench. As I said I was ready."
Redmond joined the Canaries from Birmingham City in 2013 and has gone on to make 87 appearances for the Norfolk club.
Liam Apicella
