Pilkington, who was at Manchester United as a teenager, began his professional career at Atherton Collieries before climbing back up the football pyramid with Stockport and Huddersfield. The 23-year-old, who opened the scoring in Norwich's 2-1 win at Bolton on Saturday, said: "I like to think I've worked really hard to get here. Now I've got the chance to play in the Premier League and I'm going to take it with both hands." He added: "I was on Manchester United's books when I was 12 or 13, then I went to Blackburn and got released from there too. "I was prepared to drop right down the basement and climb up the pyramid again. It's paying off now and hopefully it can continue. "It was all part of my process of learning the game. As low down as it was, it's helped me."
