PETER Odemwingie admitted he went through a rollercoaster of emotions at Carrow Road.

The Nigeria striker, last season’s 15-goal top scorer, revealed he went into his first league start this term low in confidence after being plagued by an ankle injury for the past six weeks.

But his third-minute goal, which proved the winner, soon settled his nerves and he was a constant threat to the Canaries defence – only to miss a 76th-minute penalty.

That incident sparked a nerve-wracking finale.

And Odemwingie admitted he was the most-relieved man inside the Norfolk venue when referee Mark Halsey’s final whistle confirmed his spot-kick miss had not cost his team.

“For me personally, it was great to score so early on as it was my first start of the season,” said the likeable former Lille striker.

“It put me straight away where I needed to be mentally.

“I was lacking confidence. I could feel it.

“But getting a goal so early on got me into the state I needed to be in.

“I’m sure my team-mates were happy for me as I think around ten of them came to congratulate me.

“But I made it difficult for my team-mates by missing the penalty.

“I was saying ‘sorry, sorry’ to all of them at the end of the game.

“I could’ve made it easier for them.

“But that’s football. That is why it is exciting.

“During the last ten minutes, I was praying that Norwich didn’t get an equaliser.

“But we proved we have the character when things became difficult.”

Odemwingie also claimed Albion’s electric start at Norwich helped banish the memory of their opening three league defeats.

“The early goal gave us confidence,” he added. “It helped us forget about the last three games right away.

“I’m very happy. After three defeats, it wasn’t easy.

“We’ve had an international break and heads have been down but now I think there’s going to be a new atmosphere around the training ground.

“Norwich looked like they have a lot of confidence.

“They have just come into the Premier League so that happiness and inspiration is helping them to perform.

“It was a very difficult match.

“Everyone saw we had to wait until the last seconds of the game to be sure of the win.

“It was very tense but we got three very important points.”

Odemwingie also said he enjoyed partnering Shane Long in attack from the start for the first time.

“I got really tired towards the end but Shane helped me a lot,” he added.

“He works really hard.”