Brad Hills has a big opportunity ahead of him at Norwich City as he fights for a place in Johannes Hoff Thorup's first-team squad. 

The Canaries academy graduate has returned to Colney after an impressive season-long loan at Accrington Stanley last year, where he picked up the player of the season award and earned rave reviews for his performances. 

Thorup plans to assess Hills and a host of other City players during pre-season as he continues to fine-tune his squad for the upcoming campaign. His first start against Northampton on Saturday will have offered encouragement. 

City's upcoming trip to Belgium to face a significantly higher calibre of opponent will test Hills further and he faces competition from Shane Duffy, Grant Hanley, Jonathan Tomkinson and Emmanuel Adegboyega for a spot in Thorup's squad. 

Defensive partner Jack Stacey believes Hills has a real role to play at City and discussed his own role in helping the young talent feel comfortable in the first team. 

"From what I've seen so far, he fits into the style perfectly in terms of a ball-playing centre back. He had a very good loan last year, so he's come back full of confidence. His next step is to try and break into the team. 

"We have competition all around the squad, especially with young players coming through, so that can only be good for the squad as a whole. 

"With some of the internationals not returning yet, I found myself being one of the oldest in some of the training sessions," Stacey told the Pink Un after Saturday's friendly win over Northampton. 

"It's very different for me but I think it's something that comes naturally with experience because you've been in the situation that they are in, so if I can help them and talk through with Brad and encourage him to do the same, then I think that will be a nice role for me to fulfil this year." 

Hanley will be part of City's returning international contingent this week. The Canaries' next pre-season clash is against Belgian champions Club Brugges on Wednesday evening, before facing Standard Liege next weekend.