‘Am I going to be the same player?’ - USMNT star Josh Sargent reveals injury fear after ankle surgery & four-month lay-off at Championship side Norwich

The United States international damaged ankle ligaments during a Championship outing for the Canaries against Huddersfield on August 26. He was forced to undergo surgery as a result and did not figure again at club level until stepping off the bench in a meeting with Millwall on December 29.

Sargent was back among the goals in Norwich’s 1-1 draw with Southampton on the first day of 2024 and hopes that effort will help him to rediscover a spark in the final third. He has told BBC Radio Norfolk: “I didn't feel my ankle at all. Coming back from injury, in your head you think 'am I going to be the same player, is everything going to work out?' so it's amazing to get on the scoresheet and hopefully I can return to good form. It's been a long time, I still need to get in shape, my conditioning needs to get better, but it's obviously a very good feeling to be back on the pitch with the boys.”

Norwich will be hoping to see Sargent fire on all cylinders over the coming months as they look to force their way into the Championship promotion picture. The 23-year-old forward added: “We started the season so well and then it started falling apart a bit, it was a bit confusing. But we have strung together a few results, we're hanging around the play-off spots so we've just got to get into a good rhythm again. We have everybody pretty much back from injury and we're looking forward now to hopefully getting some more (good) results.”

Sargent has now hit four goals for Norwich through just seven appearances this season – having broken into double figures for the first time in his career last term – and will be looking to play his way into contention for selection in the United States’ plans for the CONCACAF Nations League finals and 2024 Copa America.