Sometime around that point and there it was on the club's official website – the fact that Leroy Lita had agreed to come to Norfolk on a one month's loan deal.

'Lita?' would be the first question. 'That quick, strong lad who played for Reading in the Premiership? Finished their top scorer in all competitions in their first season up? Him?' would be questions No2, No3 and No4 as the City chief once more waves his magic loan wand.

As ever, of course, the proof will be in the pudding – starting tomorrow against Derby County.

But the point is that having watched Norwich slip back into the also-ran pack on the back of this week's 2-0 defeat at St Mary's, if you had to write a cv for the next loan player that Norwich needed to sign, it would probably fit Lita's.

A more experienced OJ Koroma, in short.

For that's what he is – in theory.

The on-loan Pompey teenager only with a cooler head attached; the kind of cool head that comes with being five years OJ's senior.

Tuesday night was rough on the young Gambian. He did so much right, particularly when it came to that biggest chance of the night.

Drop his shoulder and shrug off the first central defender; slip the ball inside the other as you sweep into the box and Kelvin Davis now filling your sights.

In fairness to Davis, his instinctive, one-handed save to push Koroma's rising drive up and over the bar was top drawer.

For the watching Canary faithful, opinion was mixed. Big, big miss – again, was the view of the less charitable.

And football being a less than charitable business, so Roeder was swiftly on the blower to Coppell – Koroma, Lupoli, Cureton, Russell, Martin.... all now, in one way or another, discarded in order to accommodate the 23-year-old's arrival alongside Antoine Sibierski.

For me, that's all credit to the manager – if rough on Koroma who, finishing apart, had done enough to warrant another start. Straight into the contacts book, straight onto the phone, slam Lita in against the Rams.

The fact that he acted now, knowing that the Reading striker would then have to click his heels for two weeks courtesy of the forthcoming international break, merely underlined the urgency of the issue.

But, again, credit. Roeder recognised the issue and the urgency – and acted. Now all Lita has to do is deliver.

No pressure.

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