Norwich City column: Borja Sainz showing similarities to Emi Buendia

After enjoying plenty of pre-Christmas cheer, Norwich City were brought crashing back down to earth on Boxing Day.

Defeat at West Brom was only a second in nine games – a run which had brought David Wagner’s side back to within touching distance of the play-off places.

More concerning than the result itself was the manner of the performance, very reminiscent of some of the tepid and uninspiring displays we were subjected to earlier in the campaign.

But as poor as the performance was, it would also be wrong to ignore the impact of Borja Sainz’s first-half sending off.

Look, whether you agree with the dismissal or not – it was extremely silly of the Spaniard. He should have known better. It left his teammates with a mountain to climb and means he will miss Friday’s visit to Millwall.

I wrote a while back that Sainz reminds me of Emi Buendia when he first arrived at Carrow Road and over the last few weeks we have seen the best and worst of that.

His creativity and tenacity have been there in abundance. The goals against Sheffield Wednesday and Huddersfield were extremely well taken – and a real indicator of the quality and potential of the 22-year-old.

But as was the case with a young Emi, there have been occasions where that tenacity has overspilt into petulance – waving an imaginary yellow card at the referee the most obvious and damaging example.

The challenge for Sainz, moving forward, is to become more mature on the pitch. If he can channel the fire in his belly into something positive, we will have a serious player on our hands.

Finally, the one positive from the trip to the Hawthorns was the return of Grant Hanley, after an eight-month absence. It is great to have our skipper back – and I’m sure the 32-year-old will have a big part to play between now and the end of the season.