Norwich Fan View: 3 things we learned from the Canaries' disappointing 2-2 draw at Wigan

Norwich City missed the chance to move up into the Championship play-off places on Tuesday evening as they let a half-time lead slip to draw 2-2 at struggling Wigan. Nelson Oliveira’s 40th-minute opener looked to have put Alex Neil’s side in pole position to earn their fourth consecutive victory, but City’s January target Omar Bogle scored twice in six second half minutes for Wigan to end such hopes. So, both Norwich supporters and Alex Neil will see it as two crucial points dropped, but what did we learn from the trip to the North West?

Firstly, John Ruddy is getting back to his best

It has been a strange few years for City’s number one. After a colossal spell of form during our 2010-11 Championship promotion campaign and our first season back in the top flight, Ruddy had reached the periphery of the England squad and was being touted as one of the best goalkeepers in the country. However, ever since the long-term injury that he suffered during our second season under Chris Hughton, he has struggled. This has seen him be dropped, particularly by Neil, on numerous occasions – with Declan Rudd being chosen ahead of him in certain periods of last season and Michael McGovern this term. Ultimately, neither have quite proven to be adequate replacements for Ruddy and as such he has continuously managed to wrestle himself back in to the number one position.

I would argue that the last three games have seen him perform at a level somewhat close to his confident best. It required a string of impressive saves from Ruddy, including one outstanding double-save, to earn us the three points at Cardiff on Saturday and without a late, close-range stop at Wigan last night we would not have even come away with a point.

If City are to sustain a play-off push during the remainder of the season then we are reliant on an in-form and confident John Ruddy – and I think we may just have him.

The two new signings have had contrasting starts to their City careers

Yanic Wildschut and Mitchell Dijks, City’s two deadline day signings, were thrown straight into the deep end by Neil having both started two games in the space of four days despite having less than a week of training under their belts. In the case of Dijks, you would not have guessed that he was under-prepared – he has settled perfectly into the rough and tumble of Championship football with a man-of-the-match debut at Cardiff on Saturday and a goal-scoring performance at Wigan. Fellow Dutchman Wildschut, on the other hand, is clearly in need of some more time to settle (I hope, anyway, or we have bought a dud). His debut on Saturday saw him put in a solid if unspectacular display but on his return to Wigan he looked lost and out of his depth – almost as if the occasion (and 10,000 Wigan fans shouting obscenities at him) got the better of him. Let’s hope he demonstrates just why we spent £7million on him sooner rather than later.

Alex Pritchard must start more often

2016/17: 12 starts, 8 assists, 2 goals – stats that you would expect to see from a star player who has been riddled with injury but has started, and impressed, in every game that they have been available. Not the stats you would expect to see from a player who has been fit for pretty much the whole season but has often struggled to even make the match-day bench. Alex Neil has made many puzzling decisions this season but none more puzzling than the continuous snub of Pritchard. As the stats show, whenever he starts he almost always contributes. Yes, he has had some quiet games (Barnsley and Brentford away spring to mind) but for a creative midfielder this is to be expected – Wes Hoolahan, the player I would most closely compare him to, often goes missing too.

Unsurprisingly, a rare start for the 23-year-old at Wigan resulted in him producing two more assists, as both Oliveira’s and Djiks’ headers came from his inch perfect set-pieces. Whilst I would like to think that it was a case of Neil finally seeing the light and feeling like Pritchard deserved an opportunity, in reality the only reason that he was given a start was because Steven Naismith was injured and a 34-year-old Wes Hoolahan being unable to start two games in four days. If he is dropped for the visit of Nottingham Forest on Saturday then I will despair.