Chris Lakey Glenn Roeder gave a hint of the size of the task ahead last night when he revealed that as many as 15 players could be leaving Norwich City in the summer.

Chris Lakey

Glenn Roeder gave a hint of the size of the task ahead last night when he revealed that as many as 15 players could be leaving Norwich City in the summer.

The City manager has already shipped out a whole host of former manager Peter Grant's flops - and it looks like more could follow.

The Canaries boss, speaking after City's 1-1 draw at Watford, says he needs to "restructure and reorganise" the club and defended his use of the loan system, insisting that without Premiership help City could still be languishing in the lower reaches of the Championship.

"We are one of the top Championship clubs," said Roeder. "I found them in a mess with eight points and we're gradually sorting it, out slowly but surely.

"Rome wasn't built in a day and nor was Norwich. We play in front of 25,000 - actually I am quite fed up with how low a profile we have.

"It is my job to change that. I want that responsibility where we are expected to win promotion and whether we can do it in one hit we will have to wait and see.

"Unfortunately, or fortunately, we will probably be losing up to 15 players in the new season, including the six loans. The key to the turnaround in fortunes has been the loan players that we have managed to secure."

Roeder has called in favours from Premiership managers since day one, when he brought in Martin Taylor from Birmingham on his first full day in the job, but he refuted the suggestion he was relying too much on other teams' players.

"What else can we do? I always pick the best team available, always, there are no favourites," he said. "It is the best team and if the best players are loan players so be it.

"We will have to hit the loan system next year as well to make up the numbers - I am very lucky. I have enough friends in the Premiership to lend me some of their players because they know I'll play them. They don't sit in the stand.

"I want the best for our supporters, I knew Norwich was a lovely club, a nice club and the supporters over the last few years have been undersold and it is my job to give them something to cheer about.

"It will take a little bit of time because it is a complete restructure and rebuilding job. The thing is we have the basics there - a Premiership training ground, Premiership stadium, the size of the crowd. We haven't got the team at the moment but we are working on that."

City are currently 13th in the Championship, failing to move up last night despite a point at promotion-chasing Watford. Danny Shittu's 11th-minute header put City on the rack, but they recovered their composure to the extent that Jamie Cureton's superb 80th-minute equaliser was more than deserved.

"It was an excellent point and deserved," said Roeder. "The opening 15 minutes put us under pressure. With long throws from just over the halfway line coming into your penalty box the boys had to stand up and be counted and I think overall they did that. I was disappointed with their goal, a header inside the six-yard box but generally speaking I thought the boys defended very well and once the game stretched early in the second half it was us who had the game really.

"But when you play a team that is direct, direct you often get caught up in it yourself and because you don't practise it every day like they do you are going to come out second best. I said they had to be brave and be strong in your belief in how we want to play football and that is make passes and when we did that we caused them a lot of problems."