Norwich City striker Chris Martin is confident he can handle the pressure of helping spearhead the Canaries' Championship charge.Martin opened his goal account for the new campaign alongside skipper Grant Holt with a matching brace in the win over Gillingham.

Norwich City striker Chris Martin is confident he can handle the pressure of helping spearhead the Canaries' Championship charge.

Martin opened his goal account for the new campaign alongside skipper Grant Holt with a matching brace in the win over Gillingham.

The duo plundered 41 goals in the club's march to the League One crown and Martin is now ready to prove he can cut it at Championship level again ahead of tomorrow's trip to Scunthorpe.

“If we can score as many goals as we did last year then we know we are doing something right, especially in a league like the Championship,” he said. “We want to try and spur each other on and we know we have the quality in the team and goals from elsewhere. Simeon (Jackson) has come in after scoring a lot of goals for Gillingham and we have other lads in midfield or even on the bench so I don't think we'll be relied upon.

“You have that pressure on you your whole career as a striker. If you have chosen to play that position then you should fancy yourself to score goals, which I do, and as long as I get minutes on the pitch I believe I will score goals. That is one of the biggest things about being a striker, you have to be confident in your own ability. If you are not, it will show in your game and in your goalscoring statistics.”

The former City academy prospect initially burst on the senior scene with four goals in his first seven Championship outings as a teenager during Peter Grant's Norwich tenure before falling out of favour under Glenn Roeder.

“Its nice to get back to the Championship and playing, if I play, because first and foremost I have to get selected by working hard in games and if selected then showing the manager that I am good enough to stay in the team,” said Martin. “If I am good enough to do that then I want to push on and score as many goals as I can. Although it's nice to get back into the Championship we are not here to rest on our laurels, just like last season.

“We know what the gaffer wants from us and what the fans want from us and of course after last season, that is quite high expectations, but we know what we want to achieve. We'll plug away, get as many points as we can but we know it is a tough, tough league.”

Martin insists City's Carling Cup success meant more than simply cup progress.

“It's important to get that winning mentality back into the side,” he said. “I suppose after getting beat in the first game and going behind early there was possibly a question mark but we showed the will to win and the spirit to get back into it.

“We still knew we had control of the game and we went in front before half-time. I think perhaps we made it a little bit more difficult for ourselves because it was end to end for a spell but we bounced back well and every single one of us put in 100pc - which is the minimum required for every single person at this football club. Expectations are high and we need to deliver every single minute of every single game.”

Martin also paid tribute to strike partner Holt for the deft touch that allowed him to get off the mark.

“He is a big player for us,” said Martin. “He showed his quality because it was a great little through-ball for my first goal.

“If he hadn't just flicked that ball over to me it wouldn't have been a goal. He got himself on the scoresheet as well.”