As if things couldn't get much worse at the oppositions' end of the pitch given the Canaries' general lack of a killer instinct in front of goal this season and them once again demonstrating an inability to covert excellent goal-scoring chances into goals at St Mary's in midweek, we now discover that City boss Glenn Roeder will be struggling to name a centre-back pairing for what must surely be viewed as must-win game against Derby on Saturday?
The one crumb of comfort that Norwich supporters would have allowed themselves on the long haul back to Norfolk on Tuesday night was the fact that at least City had recaptured the type of attacking form that saw them begin the season in impressive style.
Because in the previous game at Barnsley last Saturday the Canaries had not even come remotely close to creating the type of scoring opportunities that they have mostly been missing for fun and what have become a depressing feature of the current campaign.
But despite another goalless evening in Southampton arriving on the back of an equally barren afternoon in South Yorkshire, at least there were signs of a return to life in the opposition penalty area once again.
At a push it meant that we could all focus with a positive attitude for this weekend and in the games ahead based loosely on the thinking of Norwich keeping things nice and tight at the back and the goals eventually beginning to arrive again.
And then Jonathan Grounds is promptly whisked back to the North East to leave Roeder's defensive options in tatters.
It never rains?.
At least the arrival of Leroy Lita is something to lift the spirits, and if he can play anywhere near to his full potential here at Norwich in the next six games then I can't see how Norwich's goals for tally isn't going to improve.
As he demonstrated only too clearly when catching everyone's attention just over a season ago, an in-form, fully-focused Lita can give any defender a torrid time and he certainly knows how to stick the ball in the back of the net.
Of course just like anyone else, an out-of-form or uncommitted Lita can just as easily find himself surplus to current requirements by his employers and resulting with him being shipped out on loan, so exactly which of the two varieties the Canaries have just acquired remains to be seen.
After tomorrow's game against a steadily improving Derby side, the Canaries' fixtures don't look quite so inviting as they have done in the past fortnight.
A trip to Bristol City after the two-week international break and then a clash here at Carrow Road three days later against early pace-setters Wolves should in theory provide City with a much sterner test than they encountered at Barnsley and Southampton, hence the need for a much-needed victory on Saturday.
Individually there haven't been too many star performers in the Norwich side for four games in a row now.
All things considered, only Darel Russell, Lee Croft and especially David Marshall can really claim to have cut the mustard recently, whilst Omar Koroma can be quite content with his performance on his full league debut for the Canaries on Tuesday night despite missing a couple of sitters.
It's not solely in attack though that City have laboured, because the lack of creativity from midfield has been palpable with every passing game.
Although no-one can point an accusing finger at any of the current incumbents in terms of their attitude and commitment, the occasions whereby someone has possessed the vision and ability to unlock an opposition rearguard with a defence-splitting pass have been evidently few and far between.
Wes Hoolahan can certainly tick both of the above the boxes, but he has ? rightly – found himself out of the side lately after struggling to produce the form that he is capable of on a consistent-enough basis.
So here we are folks, and a current state of affairs whereby some players are missing gilt-edged chances, others are struggling to achieve the necessary levels of consistency with their performances, some are sidelined with injuries, one is missing through a needless suspension, and then on top of that another is told that he can't stay and play in Norfolk anymore and must return home.
Anyone know where the nearest bridge is?
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