David Wagner hopes Borja Sainz is back in the groove after his stunning strike in Norwich City’s FA Cup defeat to Liverpool.

Sainz unleashed a piledriver that flew past Alisson at Anfield in the second half of Sunday’s 5-2 fourth round exit, following a barren spell since his last goal in December.

The 22-year-old now has five goal contributions in 22 appearances, during a debut season at Carrow Road disrupted by a pre-season injury.

Wagner wants the Spanish wide player to kick on over the Championship run-in.

“I'm very happy for him that he scored because obviously the last games he played he has been a little bit unlucky with his numbers, in terms of goals and assists,” he said. “But he was very good defensively, worked very hard and always wanted to make a difference in the offence as well.

"Liverpool was quite a wonderful goal, and we know he is capable of doing this because he has done it before, and I'm happy that he got his goal because it gives him a boost and more confidence as well for the games which are in front of us.”

Wagner was able to rest some of his key players at Anfield, while Shane Duffy stayed behind in Norfolk for treatment on a minor back issue ahead of Coventry City's weekend league visit.

The City chief opted not to include any of the development squad in his cup plans on Merseyside, who were on duty the previous day at Old Trafford.

“We spoke about it but, to be fair, if a player played 90 minutes for the under 21s it makes no sense to put them into our matchday squad the following day,” he said, with many of the same players featuring in a 2-1 Norfolk Senior Cup win at Dereham on Tuesday night. “This was, for me, not an option because the guys who might be contention played 90 minutes, more or less.

“We were able to get some players closer to the squad, because we were able to give them some game time, which was very important for us looking forward to the rest of the Championship season. It was a step, a good step for us for the next one big one against Coventry at home.

“To be totally honest, we not very often in our Championship season facing an opponent like Liverpool.

“If you are brave and like to play out from the back then there can be turnovers and in the transitional moments they are a threat. But this is also down to Liverpool's quality to be fair - more speed, tighter spaces, more pressure. This is what happened and something we can learn from.”