Norwich City midfielder Marcelino Nunez has his character to thank for his impressive display against Birmingham, according to head coach David Wagner.

The Chilean scored an impressive double and assisted the third in a 3-1 win over the Blues on Tuesday, and has been the talk of the Canaries' fan base since that vital win.

Wagner chose to highlight the 22-year-old's character behind the scenes, however, when asked about him post-match.

"He did not have a lot of starts, but he worked the whole time in training perfectly," the German said. "He always has a smile on his face.

"We all love him as a character and as a player as well. To really go over this period, which maybe isn’t the easiest, with this attitude is something extraordinary. He then comes and starts in a position which plays to his strengths and plays like today and scores two goals - I think then he deserved the extra applause from the supporters.  

"He always has a smile on his face. He really likes to work. He always asks for extras. He isn’t the guy who learns a language quickly, to be fair. There are other guys who learn languages quicker than him, but this doesn’t mean that he is separate from the group.

"No, he’s totally included, and this makes it even more interesting, that somebody who doesn’t speak the language so well is included in the group. Very interesting, and I think this speaks for his character."

Nunez has struggled for game time under Wagner, but that's no indication of his ability, according to the 51-year-old, who continued: "To be fair, it is more because I think with Kenny [McLean] and Gabby [Sara] we have in the central position two very reliable, very consistently standout players, and [Nunez] isn’t a striker.

"This means if these two positions are  occupied then there has to be a moment where you play with a number 10 where he then can really play to his strengths. 

"Today it was exactly what we needed and he has done it very,very well. I like to have him in the game because he’s very football intelligent and I like to have him on the pitch."