Hughton hoping to build

Chris Hughton: Looking to build on the foundations put down at Norwich by Paul Lambert

Chris Hughton intends to add to the Norwich City squad he inherited from Paul Lambert and help the club to continue on their upward curve.

The Canaries surpassed all expectations in 2011/12 as they secured a 12th-place finish in their first season back in the Premier League.

The challenge now is to build on that success, and Hughton is the man charged with overseeing the construction work following Lambert's decision to take the reins at Aston Villa.

Hughton has wasted no time in piecing together what he hopes will be a competitive squad, with Jacob Butterfield signed from Barnsley and Steven Whittaker waiting for the Scottish Football Association to ratify his move from Rangers.

Norwich's new boss has also made the tying down of core members of the side a top priority, with Grant Holt, John Ruddy, Russell Martin and Andrew Surman penning new deals.

Hughton appreciates that the Canaries remain a work in progress, though, and admits there are likely to be further comings and goings at Carrow Road before the summer is out.

He said: "I have to assess what I have here, and it will be my responsibility to certainly try to sustain everything good which we have had, but I would like to add to the squad, because that is natural. I have the funds to be able to do that.

Outstanding

"You take the option that you keep everything which is good and just change the voice, or you try to improve the squad you have.

"We have a responsibility to the club to try and improve the squad and try not to detract too much from what has been good over the past few seasons."

Hughton added: "Paul had a magnificent three seasons, and it has been an outstanding period for the club.

"My responsibility is to try to sustain a lot of the good work Paul and the club have been able to do.

"There is a real feel-good factor about the club. It is a nice time to be around here at the moment.

"The board really want me to get on now with managing the football side, so I could not have got any more support, and I am really looking forward to the challenge."