A Canary waiting on the wings for Ireland

ANTHONY PILKINGTON is a young man desperate to make up for lost time.

Still only 23, Norwich City’s wide player had to overcome the disappointment of failing to make the grade both at hometown club Blackburn and Manchester United to star in the Premier League this season.

The Lancashire-born winger’s rise started in the humbler surroundings of Atherton Collieries — a part-time outfit in England’s North-West Counties League. Stockport offered him a route into the professional ranks in 2006.