David Wagner was not the reason for Norwich City’s latest away day Championship surrender.

Yes, Tuesday night’s 2-2 draw at Sheffield Wednesday extended a frustrating pattern of City being unable to hold onto leads on the road.

And yes, there have been times this season where Wagner’s passive second-half tactics can be said to have inhibited City killing games off.

But at Hillsborough, I had genuine sympathy for the visibly aggrieved German and don’t agree it was his in-game management that caused Wednesday’s dramatic late comeback.

A post-match video I filmed for this paper’s digital channels saw me express my frustration that many fans had ‘turned on’ Wagner after last weekend’s stirring derby day triumph over Ipswich Town.

Of course, and despite the miraculous turnaround he has engineered since the autumn, I’m aware that Wagner remains far from a universally popular figure.

What I meant was that after that most joyous, united of Carrow Road atmospheres last Saturday lunchtime - our eighth home win on the spin - it’s a shame that in the space of just three days, it felt like virtually all of that goodwill had been abandoned.

It’s not Wagner’s fault that his players missed a hatful of chances and should have been at least 4-0 up at half-time.

And even during the much-maligned second-half ‘approach’, it’s not Wagner’s fault that either Gabriel Sara or Jack Stacey failed to wrap the game up or City were unable to translate their periods of dominance into more goals up to the 70th minute.

Crucially, it’s not Wagner’s fault that he had to take Josh Sargent, City’s most important player, off on the hour mark because he was carrying a slight knock.

And it’s not Wagner’s fault that his striking options on the bench are essentially non-existent, with only a clearly immobile, off-the-pace Dutchman and extremely raw academy prospect with next to no experience to choose from.

The Pink Un: David Wagner can't be blamed for his side surrendering a 2-0 lead at Hillsborough, says Will

I agree with the majority of fans - playing Ashley Barnes as a lone striker in Sargent’s absence never ends well.

Nothing seems to stick, we struggle to get higher up the pitch and are unable to stretch opposition defences.

So in many respects Tuesday night functioned as a microcosm of our season as a whole, a dominant, front-foot and fluid 60 minutes with the American leading the line before a return to the dark days last seen during that dismal autumn run.

Sargent is probably the best striker in the division and is virtually irreplaceable - that cannot be disputed.

But it’s difficult to not feel sorry for Wagner that he has no one else to call on to do a similar job and therefore maintain that aggressive, front-foot style we saw for the majority of Tuesday night.

Barnes has been brilliant in that No.10 role in recent weeks, dropping in deep to link up the play and forming an increasingly potent partnership with our prolific No.9.

But there’s no denying he lacks the ingredients to deputise for Sargent as City’s focal point.

With that in mind, and as alluded to in his revealing post-match press quotes, the fact Wagner resorts to that over bringing on either Sydney van Hooijdonk or Ken Aboh says it all.

Obviously, Wagner would love another striker as mobile, quick and strong as Sargent to use late in games to prevent his side dropping deeper and inviting opposition pressure.

But with Adam Idah out on loan at Celtic and Hwang Ui-jo – who Wagner clearly trusted considerably more than Van Hooijdonk – back at Nottingham Forest, he just doesn’t have that option at his disposal.

Bar one three-yard pass – which no one would have batted an eyelid about if it was any other player – Van Hooijdonk, in his admittedly limited gametime, has looked miles off what’s required to cut is as a successful Championship striker.

And even if you reckon that sample size is too small, Wagner’s reluctance to use him in those Sargent-less moments when we’re so clearly crying out for an effective alternative tells you all you need to know.

As for Aboh, I understand the importance of giving youth a chance – but away from home at Hillsborough during such a crucial stage of the season, is it really worth that risk?

The only other option is Barnes and as we all know, that naturally leads to City struggling to stay higher up the pitch and therefore seeing games out.

But I’d suggest it’s the absence of Sargent and competent second choice striker – rather than an inherently negative mentality from the manager – combined with City’s profligacy in front of goal that led to that capitulation in the Steel City.