Martin Olsson insists Alex Neil's astronomical rise is not down to luck after Norwich's play-off glory.

The Canaries clinched an instant return to the Barclays Premier League following their 2-0 Sky Bet Championship play-off final win over Middlesbrough on Monday.

Boss Neil has won 17 out of 25 games since taking charge in January when Norwich were seventh in the table and seven points off the automatic promotion spots.

They finished third, one point behind the top two, but wrapped up a top flight return at Wembley 12 months after relegation thanks to goals from Cameron Jerome and Nathan Redmond.

It was also a year to the day since Neil guided Hamilton into the Scottish Premier League by beating Hibs on penalties and Olsson believes his first five months at Carrow Road show what a talent the manager is.

"Since January we have lost just three games and it shows it's no luck," said the left-back.

"He is a very tough manager, very fair as well. His gameplan since he's come in, it has been working for the players.

"I think he is pretty similar to Sam Allardyce (who Olsson played under at Blackburn).

"He is tough and wants his players to work hard. Of course it's a different type of football but mentally, the way he wants us to set up and work, is maybe a bit similar to Sam."

And Olsson revealed the squad watched their 1-0 defeat to Boro in April at least 10 times in Neil's meticulous approach for Wembley glory.

"We did a gameplan on Monday or Tuesday and we were sitting in the video room for about an hour watching them. We have been doing that since he came in," he said.

"When we played them at home we must have watched them 10 times, what we needed to do better and where they were stronger.

"We had a gameplan and it worked well.

"Our team was more experienced than theirs and when it comes to these big occasion it's the team who is the more relaxed and focused and I think we were that."

The 27-year-old was close to joining West Brom in January but ended up staying after an aborted deadline day move and is now looking to the future at Norwich.

"That's football, I didn't know if I was going to stay but it turned out well," he said.

"I told everyone I liked the club and after January I stayed and didn't moan, I just worked hard and we're here now.

"I think we are stronger now than last season as a team and if we play like we have been playing we'll be alright in the Premier League."

Meanwhile, Neil knows he will have to learn fast for life in the Barclays Premier League but will waste no time in getting started.

It's been an amazing career turnaround for the 33-year-old Scot who started the season in charge of Hamilton against Arbroath.

"You are always evolving as a person, coach and manager. I am certainly better than what I was two years ago. I will have to learn fast, but I am prepared to put the hours in to make us as equipped as can be to compete," said Neil, who is still completing his Uefa pro-licence coaching badges.

"The next couple of days will be busy, we have two plans set in place in terms of recruitment, so we need to look at that.

"We will need to add quality to the squad, but I will stick with the hard-core group of the squad and make sure they get their opportunity of going up.

"They have shown enough from previous years in the Premier League for being there for a couple of seasons, so it is not as if they do not know what to do when they get there, and more importantly, they know they are capable of staying there."

While Neil accepts Norwich's best players will "always get interest", his mind is very much on adding to the promotion-winning squad, rather than letting any key men further their career elsewhere.

"Nobody will be leaving the football club who we don't think can help us remain there in the Premier League and do well," he said.