ALAN Lee has revealed that feels he deserved more when effectively shown the door at Portman Road.

Elvin King

ALAN Lee has revealed that feels he deserved more when effectively shown the door at Portman Road.

And that he now regards East Anglia as his home, and this will bring the best out of him while on loan at Norwich City.

The 30-year-old striker is on loan from Crystal Palace and is expected to lead the Canaries line in Sunday's Coca-Cola Championship derby at his former club Ipswich Town.

The man with eight Republic of Ireland caps confirmed that he did not want to leave Ipswich Town.

“I am not anybody's mug,” he said. “I didn't want to leave, but I felt I did not have a choice.

“If you are not wanted it's best to get out of it.

“This is how football is, but I felt I did enough for Ipswich to deserve more.”

One of the appeals of transferring to Palace was that Lee could keep his home on the Suffolk/Essex border, and come back for weekends from a flat in London.

“I love it in this part of the world,” he explained.

“And it helped me play the best football of my career at Ipswich. And I sure it will do the same at Norwich.

“East Anglia is a wonderful place to live and I feel really settled here. I have lived all over the place, but East Anglia now feels like home.

“I have many friends here and the quality of life is tip-top. I can get in my car and drive to the Norwich training ground in little over an hour, which is great.”

Lee says that he is happy at Carrow Road although he is unsure at what the future might bring.

“I am feeling settled at Norwich just like I did in my early days at Ipswich,” he went on.

“And this will bring the best out of me.

“It is hard to say what will happen after my loan period is over, but Norwich are a great club and I am really enjoying it there.

“I really want to make a difference and keep the Canaries in the Championship.

“It was frustrating to lose at home to Sheffield Wednesday before Easter when the referee telephoned the following Monday to apologise after disallowing a late equaliser when he thought it was a Norwich player and not a Sheffield team mate who pushed the Wednesday keeper. We lost at Swansea over Easter but then hit back with an important win against Watford at home.

“There was no fall-out with Palace or manager Neil Warnock, but it was an uphill battle for me after suffering three bouts of hamstring problems soon after joining the club.

“Palace are a good club, but I felt a fresh start was the right thing to do - and Norwich was the one for me.”

The man who could score the goal that might have an influence of whether Jim Magilton, the Blues manager, stays at Portman Road, admits he will enjoy the moment if he does follow on from his Palace goal against Town earlier this season.

“If I put the ball between two coats in the back yard I celebrate,” said Lee. “You score a goal and it is the best feeling.

“People might look at my return to Portman Road giving me extra pleasure if I net, but it would be for my team mates - and for our fans who pay their money.

“And a goal is no good if it is not accompanied by three points, and this will be my aim on Sunday.”