With Ian Pearce suspended and Steve Lomas and Michael Carrick injured, Roeder has an acute shortage of players. "I'm still hoping to bring in three or four new faces," he said. "It's vital that we make a good start to the season and very important that we are defensively sound."
Former England midfielder Rob Lee, 37, and Matthew Etherington, the makeweight in the Frederic Kanoute transfer to Spurs, will make their debuts. Rufus Brevett faces a late test on a knee injury. In the absence of Lomas, Christian Dailly will captain the side and Don Hutchison is likely to partner Lee in midfield while Anton Ferdinand could play at right back.
After a summer dominated by transfer talk, cost cutting and disgruntled players it will be a relief for everyone at the club to get back to worrying about matters on the pitch.
Despite the sales of Glen Johnson, Trevor Sinclair, Freddie Kanoute and Joe Cole, along with the speculation over Defoe's future, the feeling among the players is that the club can bounce straight back into the Premiership.
Speaking yesterday after an open training session at Upton Park, veteran midfielder Lee, who was snapped up by West Ham on a free, said: "We are as good a team as any in this division, and we are better than most. We were sorry to see Joe go, he's a talented player and a West Ham lad.
"But these things happen in football. The same things happened to me last season at Derby. The spirit in the camp is really good and I'm sure we can get promoted. Its not all doom and gloom here you know."
Promising left-winger Etherington was also bullish about the club's prospects. He said: "There's a really good spirit at the club and all the players are looking forward to the match against Preston.
"We haven't let all the speculation effect us. Training has been going well and I'm confident the club will be back in the Premiership next season."
Preston v West Ham, Deepdale, tomorrow, 12.30pm (Live, Sky Sports 1)
