Danny Batth proving his worth to Norwich City in run in

The experienced defender joined Norwich from Sunderland on Deadline Day in the summer window but has found his playing time in Norfolk severely limited since his arrival. 

Batth's start against Sheffield Wednesday in midweek was only his fifth of the Championship campaign and first of the calendar year as he filled in for the fatigued Shane Duffy, who was unable to go again after being thrown into the deep end after a lengthy injury lay-off. 

Although Batth has had a watching brief for the majority of the campaign, Wagner has praised his impact on and off the pitch. 

"He was top. Very solid performance and exactly what we expected from him. He's a super pro and a super human being. He is always reliable and has never let me down when he has been used. He always plays well.

"I was very happy with his performance. It gave us the chance to rest Shane Duffy today," Wagner said after Tuesday's draw. 

"Even if he does not get the most game time, you see how he is on it in every training session, every meeting and how he pushed his competitors.

"This is an outstanding character which we have in our dressing room and big credit to him.”

Wagner did receive some flak from supporters by introducing Duffy late on for influential winger Borja Sainz, despite the contest being level and Norwich searching for a winner. 

City's boss has explained his thinking behind the controversial substitution as he sought to shore up his defensive line after two set-piece concessions. 

Shane Duffy replaced Borja Sainz for the final minutes of their 2-2 draw against Sheffield Wednesday. (Image: Matt Wilkinson/Focus Images Ltd)

"At the end of the day, there were not a lot of alternatives (to Shane Duffy). If you concede two from set-pieces with another five minutes to go, and you have Duffy on the bench," Wagner said.

"Even if he was not on the highest energy level, then I think it was not a shadow of a doubt that we brought him on for the last minutes.

"When a team is so direct with set-pieces, something can always happen - even if I think we competed with this very well. I just had a joke with their manager (Danny Rohl) and said this was the 'German Tony Pulis', how he played."