A CROP of City's brightest young talents have returned to Colney after a hugely successful trip to Manchester United, which saw the young Canaries take on their Old Trafford counterparts.

Teams from the under 12s, under 13 and under 14 age groups flew to the Premiership champions' Carrington training ground to face their equivalents from the Red Devils.

And it proved to be a successful trip for assistant Academy manager Dean Rastrick and his players, with the U14s winning 2-1, the U13s drawing 1-1 and the U12s losing a thriller by a 5-3 scoreline.

"As with all youth programmes, it's not all about results in the games," said Rastrick. "Having said that, it was a huge boost for the U14 group who ran out winners in their game ahead of their tournament in Germany at the weekend.

"So it's part of that process of getting them to understand about developing and playing the right way and, once you get to the older ages of the Academy, about winning games.

"Obviously, once you get to senior level that's the key - it has to be three points and a win on Saturday."

Before the afternoon matches, the teams took part in coaching sessions at the training ground, usually graced by the likes of Wayne Rooney and Christiano Ronaldo.

Unfortunately for the youngsters, there were no first team players on show that day, but they still enjoyed their day and tour of the facilities.

SAFE LANDING: City's kids return from their Manchester United experience

The trip was made possible thanks to Canaries' club sponsors Flybe providing special flights for the youngsters and coaching staff, and Rastrick was extremely grateful for their continued support.

"It was a fantastic day for the boys and we're fortunate with our club sponsors Flybe who took us up to Carrington," he said. "It was a great experience to work with players of that level and character and we also tried to develop the relationship further between our Academy in Norwich and their Academy in Manchester."