DEFENDER Gary Doherty is hoping for an early Christmas present at Scunthorpe on Saturday - by ending his 92-game goal drought.

Not since the 2-1 home win over Hull City at the start of the 2005/2006 campaign has the Doc found the net for the Canaries - a whole two seasons and two managers ago.

It's a poor return for a player who initially arrived at Carrow Road from Spurs as a versatile man able to operate in either defence or attack.

But since switching to the back on a full-time basis, Doherty has rarely troubled opposing 'keepers.

A winning goal at Scunthorpe this weekend would be the ideal way to end his barren spell, although the Doc admitted he momentarily thought he'd finally got back on the scoresheet last weekend at Colchester, when his header back across goal found the net via the boot of home defender Danny Granville.

The own goal earned Norwich a hard-fought share of the points at Layer Road after a display boss Glenn Roeder described as 'scruffy', and for a few minutes Doherty thought his header had gone straight in.

"I did, to be honest," he said. "I spoke to Curo and he said he didn't touch it, so I thought it must have gone straight in. But the lad has got the final touch.

"But, to be honest, I was just glad we got out of there with a point. We didn't play particularly well. But if we keep accumulating points, especially away from home, we'll be alright.

"It's not my main priority to get goals. But if I can weigh in with a few goals then that would be good. I haven't scored for a while. I'm always trying hard to score, so it would be good to get a goal over Christmas."

Like the game at Colchester, the trip to Scunthorpe is likely to present City with the challenge of a tight pitch where the home supporters are virtually on top of you.

"It's going to be a tight ground with perhaps not great changing rooms so it will be similar in that respect," said Doherty. "We will have a look at Scunthorpe (on video) this morning and see who their dangermen are.

"The gaffer has said they are a hard-working team and that's a good mentality to have. They started the season well and have slumped a bit of late. We will go there full of confidence because we are in a good run of form."

City, like all the other clubs in the Championship, face a hectic festive period, with four games taking place in little over a week, beginning with the weekend trip to Scunthorpe.

But Doherty said the rush in games did not bother him, and actually revelled in busy schedule.

"I enjoy it," said the 28-year-old. "It's hard, but it's quite a big squad that we've accumulated. We should be more than capable of handling the run of games."