NORWICH boss Glenn Roeder says Jamie Cureton's three-month loan to Barnsley will provide positive opportunities for the City striker.
After making just three appearances in the Canaries' starting line-up this season, Roeder told First News Cureton had been disheartened by his recent lack of Championship action.
"Jamie, as a 33-year-old, was getting more and more frustrated," Roeder said." Although he tried to do his best to keep himself correct out on the training ground, you could see that it was really getting him down.
"His agent asked if he could go out on loan a month or so ago and I said he couldn't. But he hasn't had any opportunities in the past month and when this opportunity came up, it was a chance for him to go and play some football because in the pecking order here he was way down the line. He was our leading goalscorer last year, he certainly helped us to stay in the division but this time around it wasn't really working out for him. Any time after 28 days, we could recall him if we needed to."
Asked whether the loan spelled the end of Cureton's career at City, Roeder replied: "Who can see into the future? Who knows, not necessarily and it might be just what he needs to kick-start him playing first team football again.
"I've noticed over the last month that it's really been getting him down and wearing him out, when you're 33 you know you're into the last couple of seasons in your career and you don't want to spend any more time than you have to on the bench. The few times he's been on the pitch recently, he didn't seem the same Jamie Cureton so there's a couple of young players, Arturo and OJ, that are trying to push their way into the team with younger, fresher legs."
Meanwhile, Roeder confirmed he had intended to bring a new player to the Canary ranks prior to the 5pm loan deadine: "We were close, as in we didn't get the player we wanted at 4pm which was very, very frustrating and I was expecting that the player would have come. We got into the scenario again, which I got into this time last year when I tried to bring in a couple of senior players on loan, they seem to be in the comfort zone of only sometimes playing for their team and perhaps the rest of the time sitting in the stand and stay somewhere where they're not really wanted, rather than coming somewhere where they are wanted and play football every week.
"This particular player has been playing quite regular football for his first team but had become surplus to requirements in the last couple of weeks. He would have been a very good signing for us, and he wasn't a striker."
January will see a number of loan players' deals up for renewal, including that of Reading striker Leroy Lita. Asked whether the 23-year-old potentially could potentially extend his loan stay or even possibly have a longer-term future at Norwich, Roeder replied: "You never know, he's certainly done well enough but it's not something we need to talk about now. I don't see why if things are going ok at Reading and if Leroy wants to keep playing first team football, Reading won't leave him here for the third month.
"That would be an ideal scenario for everybody - I know Reading's great concern is in January, when his contract is out at the end of the year, that they try to capatilise getting something for him rather than allow him to leave on a Bosman."
On fellow loan player, Wigan's Antoine Sibierski, the City boss added: "Sib is here until the middle of January, he's certainly is the type of player in terms of his tall-physique that you need in your squad. There's too many games and it's too early to know whether any of the loans will go back to their clubs in January or whether they'll stay for another season, but I've got it all in hand and I've got my finger on the pulse on each and every one of the loans.
"From the recruitment point of view, we are preparing ourselves if a number of them do go back, and there's a number we could go and get so we're not caught cold."
