Norwich City may sense that Josh Sargent shot in the arm has come too late | OneFootball

The American made his first start since October at the weekend, but his return may have come too late for Norwich's play-off aspirations.

Norwich City forward Josh Sargent netted a brace in the Canaries’ win over Swansea at the weekend in what was his first start following a lengthy absence through injury.

Sargent scored Norwich’s opening two goals in a rampant 5-1 win over Luke Williams’ struggling Swans side, proving yet again just how much of a threat he is at Championship level.

The American has become one of the second tier’s most dangerous frontmen and his return to action represents a huge shot in the arm for Johannes Hoff Thorup’s men, who are undoubtedly a much better team with Sargent in it.

However, after an inconsistent spell across December and the New Year period, some may feel the striker's return has come at a point where there is now too much work for Norwich to do to get back in the play-off picture.

Josh Sargent’s return is a huge boost

Sargent was fairly underwhelming in the early stages of his time at Carrow Road. He made the switch to Norfolk at the start of the 2021/22 season, with Norwich paying Bundesliga side Werder Bremen a fee in the region of £8million for the forward.

His first season in English football brought just two league goals and one assist, albeit he was part of a Norwich team that struggled badly and ultimately finished bottom of the Premier League.

However, since then, the 24-year-old has really found his feet in English football at Championship level. His tally of 13 league goals in his first second-tier season was followed up by 16 last term, a total which came from just 28 games.

Sargent has once again demonstrated his prowess this season and already has six league goals and five assists to his name from just 15 games.

There are few forwards in the Championship that can match Sargent’s all-round ability; the American is fast becoming the complete package as a striker.

Getting Sargent back to full fitness is a crucial boost for Norwich. Saturday’s victory was his first start since 27th October, having undergone groin surgery.

Having him back in the fold at such a crucial time of the season is huge for Hoff Thorup’s men, who are a totally different proposition when Sargent is fit and firing.

Josh Sargent’s return may have come too late

The state of Norwich’s season has changed pretty drastically since the last time Sargent was fully fit.

Before Saturday’s win, the last game the American started was the 3-3 draw with Middlesbrough at the end of October. That point left the Canaries sat in eighth and just one point outside the play-off positions in what had been a promising start to the season.

Sargent had formed a deadly partnership with Borja Sainz within Norwich’s attacking ranks, with the Spaniard also opening the campaign in extremely impressive fashion.

Now though, upon Sargent’s return, the picture at Carrow Road is significantly different.

A run of five losses, four wins and two draws since the start of December has left the Canaries in 11th, and now five points adrift of the top six. In addition to that, Sainz is now midway through serving a six-match ban after admitting to spitting at Chris Mepham in the defeat to Sunderland just before Christmas.

Although there is still plenty of time remaining in the season for Norwich to mount a push for the top six, they really cannot afford that gap to grow any bigger, especially given the quality of the teams they will be relying on to slip up.

With an eleven-point gap between Sunderland in fourth and West Brom in fifth, you could already make a case that the Championship’s top four (Leeds, Sheffield United, Burnley and Sunderland) are already out of sight and guaranteed a play-off berth at worst.

That leaves just two available spots, and with potentially everyone down to QPR in 13th fancying their chances of sneaking into the top six come the end of the season, Norwich will be part of what could potentially be a nine-way scrap for the final two play-off spots.

With play-off chasing sides like Sheffield Wednesday and West Brom still to go to Carrow Road, Norwich will face plenty of pivotal games ahead that could drag them firmly back into the play-off equation.