SIMON Charlton has thrown himself at the mercy of Norwich manager, Nigel Worthington, as he tries to book himself an emotional return to the Reebok on Saturday.

The former Wanderers favourite has missed the recent Carrow Road defeats to Manchester City and Chelsea after being dropped for the first time since his £250,000 transfer last summer.

Adam Drury has taken over at left-back, but Charlton is keen to play on the ground where he spent four of the happiest years of his career.

"I don't know whether I will be playing or not but obviously I hope to be," said the 33-year-old defender. "That is one game of the season I would dearly love to be involved in. I had four great years there and got on really well with everybody from the chairman to the tea ladies. It's a fantastic club.

"I also liked the fans and I think they liked me too. I got a lot of letters from Bolton when I joined Norwich saying they were surprised to see me go.

"But running out at the Reebok again would mean a tremendous amount to me. I'm desperate to play in that one and I wouldn't want to lie and say I'd be okay about missing it."

But Charlton appreciates he is at the mercy of Worthington, who has attempted to shake up his rock-bottom side recently by making changes.

"It seems strange not to be playing first-team football because that's something I have been doing for some time now, both with Bolton and Norwich," Charlton said.

"I know I'm not getting any younger, but I don't think I'm at a stage where it's affecting my fitness or quality.

"No-one likes to sit on the bench when he thinks he should be playing, but at the end of the day it is the manager's decision.

"He picks a side he thinks will go out and perform and players who are aren't in it have just got to accept it.

"We have conceded a lot of soft goals recently, there's no getting away from that, and I suppose that's why the manager decided to change it.

"If teams are patient against us we usually concede and as a defender I hate having to say that."

Worthington has warned Norwich they will have to steel themselves for a battle if they are to claim their first away win in the Premiership on Saturday.

The Carrow Road boss saw Wanderers produce a typically robust performance against Arsenal on Saturday - a display that prompted Gunners boss, Arsene Wenger, to suggest how "a few of their players played on the edge for nearly every ball".

Now, with Sam Allardyce's Whites pushing hard for Europe, Worthington reckons the Reebok will not be a place for the faint-hearted.

"They don't take any prisoners that's the way they are and they've got themselves a very good league position through it."

"We're going to have to compete, we're going to have to head every ball and we're going to have to be strong mentally and physically it's as simple as that."

Worthington, who has Denmark international captain, Thomas Helveg, and young striker, Ryan Jarvis, back in training after recent injury lay-offs, is relieved that El-Hadji Diouf's latest bout of petulance has ruled him out.

"He's a good player, but he's certainly got a few frustrations within himself. The fact that he's not available to play against us is a little plus," he said.