Josh Sargent and Ashley Barnes are the best striking duo in the Championship for Norwich City head coach David Wagner.

The pair have scored 22 goals and claimed six assists between them this season despite significant injury problems for both, combining their unique styles to spearhead the Canaries' charge toward play-off qualification.

Barnes struggled to produce his usual output in Sargent's absence, while the latter's rapid rise to the top of City's goalscoring charts has come thanks in no small part to his strike partner.

Wagner says the understanding the pair have forged is a significant driver in their success this term, with an outstanding on-pitch relationship the product of their good one off it.

"They have a good understanding, and they like each other off the pitch as well," he said. "They have good harmony, and obviously good players like to play with each other. This is exactly the case.

"Especially in the time when Josh was not on the highest fitness level in games, Barnesy did a lot of hard work for him as well.

"Now luckily Josh is on a good level fitness-wise, they can share these dirty yards and this workload."

The long list of impressive second tier forwards includes Premier League winner Jamie Vardy, Leeds' reported £35million attacker Georginio Rutter and Southampton's proven hitman Adam Armstrong.

Wagner wouldn't swap any of them for his star men, however, asserting the importance of Sargent and Barnes to his team.

"I would not swap our strikers with any strikers in this division," he continued. "This is something that you love as a manager. They are able to create, they are a danger for goals, they can score.

"They feel responsibility for the defensive work as well, and they are super, super intelligent tactically.

"This is a mix which you love to have, and this is why they deserve all the praise and all the credit they get at the minute."