Lambert gets advice from Fergie

Lambert, who turned 42 last week, was cutting his managerial teeth at Livingston the last time the Canaries were in the Premier League, but will lead his side out at Wigan on Saturday having overseen successive promotions since taking charge at Carrow Road just two seasons ago. Now, Lambert - a Champions League winner with Borussia Dortmund in 1997 - is set to pit his wits against some of the best coaches around, half-a-dozen of which hail from his home town. The Paisley-born former Scotland international has the utmost respect for their achievements. "I spoke to Sir Alex regarding Richard De Laet, who we have on loan now, and I had a chat with him. He said 'it's hard' - and you look how long he has been in the game and he is probably the greatest manager the country has ever produced really," Lambert said. "I know the pitfalls of it, I know that if you don't win you are in trouble." The Norwich boss added: "I had a good chat with Kenny [Dalglish] - I have spoken to all the Glaswegian managers. They have been great. "We have got the best one at the helm in Sir Alex, Kenny's done great at Liverpool, [David] Moyes at Everton, Alex [McLeish] has moved to Aston Villa, Stevie [Kean] at Blackburn and Oweny [Coyle] at Bolton. "I have spoken to them all - and it is great when you can talk your own language." Lambert may have performed a minor miracle in taking the Norfolk club back up from England's third tier, where they had faced an uncertain financial future. But he knows the biggest test of his squad lays ahead over what could be a long nine months. "Moving up to the Premier League, the players will have to learn to adapt very quickly, but is not something I am frightened by. I think the players will thrive on it," he said. "We have to adjust and get a foothold really quickly and build on it. "Every Norwich fan knows that if we stay in this league, it will be an incredible achievement. It would surpass everything we've ever done." Lambert may not be a betting man, but insists he will pay little attention to those who already have the Canaries back in the Championship. "I don't know about odds, except that sometimes you can defy them," said Lambert, who is closing in on an £800,000 deal for young Spanish defender Daniel Ayala from Liverpool. "I don't have a problem with people saying that Norwich are going to go down, that is just somebody's opinion and everybody is entitled to one. "What will happen will happen." Carrow Road will hosts its first top-flight game since 2005 when Stoke visit next weekend. Lambert, though, has no intention for Delia Smith's club to offer much hospitality on the pitch. The Canaries boss said: "I don't think we can just afford to be known as a nice club, a lovely place to go, play football and win. "I am not going to start now - we have to make it a hard place to come for teams."