OPINION
Aston Villa midfielder Conor Hourihane has struggled to impress all season and he stunned everyone by dramatically improving against Stoke City on Saturday.
The Villans may have only drawn 1-1 with the Potters but there were many reasons to be cheery for supporters, particularly if you focus on the second-half performance.
In the first-half several players looked well below par and not fit to wear the shirt.
One of the players who was struggling to shine was 28-year-old Hourihane, but you would be forgiven if this wasn’t a surprise as the majority of his 34 outings this season have seen him fail to deliver the goods.
As soon as the second-half kicked off, the midfielder looked back to his best.
Hourihane seemed to win most of his tackles, hold onto possession, play accurate passes and just generally looked like an energetic presence capable of running the midfield.
It says a lot that the often criticised 28-year-old had loads of Villans fans on Twitter singing his praises for his latest display.
It seems Dean Smith’s blunt remarks indirectly at him ahead of the Stoke game, are what unlocked his ability.
The Villans boss addressed the fact that his players were constantly getting booed by fans and told Hourihane to just keep working hard in order to silence his critics.
“The supporters need to be supportive with all the players,” Smith said, as quoted by the Birmingham Mail.
“We’ve all been supporters and have had favourites and those we don’t quite like.
“That happens, it’s the nature of football. Opinions are different.
“All Conor can do is roll his sleeves up and keep working hard.”
Based on the fact that following these comments Hourihane’s form transformed, at least for 45 minutes, it seems Smith’s remarks had the desired effect.