The season may not yet be over for Norwich City loanee Philip Heise, after Nuernberg slipped into the relegation play-off place on the last day of the Bundesliga Two season.

Heise has been on something of a roller-coaster ride since football resumed in May amid Germany’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

The 29-year-old, who is under contract at Norwich until 2022, has been in and out of the starting line-up during a tumultuous time. When he has played it’s been on the left wing but he remained on the bench during a 6-0 win at lowly Wehen Wiesbaden - who have now been relegated.

But then, bizarrely, Nuernberg lost 6-0 at home to promotion chasing Stuttgart in their next game with Heise only making a brief late cameo.

On Sunday it was again just featuring for the final six minutes as a 1-1 draw away to mid-table Holsten Kiel proved costly, as Karlsruher won 2-1 at Greuther Furth to edge Nuernberg into the relegation play-off on goal difference.

The play-off games will be played on July 7 and 11 but the opposition is not yet clear as the third-tier season is not finished, with Bayern Munich II currently top but not able to be promoted, leaving Ingolstadt on course for the play-off in fourth place.

Heise has three assists in 11 games to his name so far, but just five of those have been starts. He joined Norwich from Dynamo Dresden in January 2019 but has so only made one appearance for City.

He will also have a new coach for the play-off games, as Jens Keller and his assistant have been replaced by head of youth performance Michael Wiesinger and under-21 coach Marek Mintal following Sunday’s game.