Norwich City: Borja Sainz may have big Joel Piroe fear as Leeds United ace shines | OneFootball

Borja Sainz's six-game suspension could prove key to his golden boot chances this season

Borja Sainz returned to action for Norwich City on Tuesday night in the team’s 1-0 loss to Preston North End after a six-match suspension was served.

But the damage to the Spaniard’s hopes of being top scorer in the Championship at the end of the season may already be done due to Joel Piroe’s resurgence in form for Leeds United.

The Norwich star was banned for six games after a spitting incident in their loss to Sunderland in December.

He started that suspension with a tally of 15 goals to his name, leading the way at the top of the scoring charts by some distance.

But four goals from Piroe in that time since has seen the Dutchman move within one of Sainz, with a tally of 14 now to his name.

Johannes Thorup expects Sainz to benefit from the break

Norwich boss Johannes Hoff Thorup has taken the optimistic point of view from Sainz missing so many games.

He believes the forward will come back re-energised, and the break will serve him well for the rest of the campaign.

"It's going to be interesting for all of us to have Borja back," said Thorup, via the BBC, earlier this week.

“He's handled this four, five weeks very well.

"He had some days back home in Spain with his family then he came back to us and he's been training well, he's been training at a high level.

“Almost every day he's been doing extras more or less every session out there to stay fit and make sure he's more than ready to step in again."

However, a quiet display at home to Preston midweek doesn’t bode well for his ability to seamlessly come back into the team.

Meanwhile, Piroe contributed a goal and an assist as the Whites won 4-0 against Watford, with Daniel Farke’s side now flying.

Piroe is hitting his best form all season, and will be feeling strong that he can catch out, and pass, Sainz’s lead at the top of the scoring charts.

Norwich will need Sainz at his best to have any play-off hopes

If Norwich are going to earn a place inside the top six this season then they will need Sainz to immediately return to goal scoring form.

However, his and the team’s performance against Preston wasn’t encouraging in that regard.

Josh Sargent’s own resurgence was a key part of the Canaries remaining in good form even without Sainz.

In theory, having the two fit and firing in the team together now should be a recipe for success.

But missing six games of the season while still fit can really halt a player’s momentum, as so much can happen in that short span of time.

There were only 38 days between appearances for the Norfolk outfit, but in that time Norwich won two, lost two and drew one, and were also eliminated from the FA Cup.