Scott Hogan could be forgiven for thinking that his Aston Villa career was as good as over when he underwent emergency stomach surgery while away on international duty with Republic of Ireland in the autumn. It was the latest in a long line of injury set-backs for the talented forward since he joined Villa for a massive £12m and rumour pages were filled with talk of him departing Villa Park during the January transfer window.
The 25-year-old was effectively Steve Bruce's fourth-choice striker, behind Jonathan Kodjia, Keinan Davis and Gabriel Agbonlahor, earlier this season having scored just one Championship goal since joining Villa from Brentford last January and the £12m price tag appeared to be hanging like a millstone around his neck.
The movement and touch that marked him out as a forward of real potential was still there but the goalscoring touch was desperately missing and Bruce was reportedly losing patience with a striker who has shown a remarkable appetite for overcoming challenging periods during his career to date.
Hogan first rose to prominence with Rochdale as his exploits there earned him a £750,000 move to Brentford, where he suffered the first of two cruciate ligament injuries that effectively ruled him out for 18 months. The Irish international soon bounced back to score 15 goals in 25 league appearances during the 2016/17 campaign for the Bees before he signed for Villa in January 2017.
The psychological barrier of signing for a so-called 'bigger club' appeared to be taking its toll during 2017 and plenty were writing Hogan off as he continued to be linked with a move away from the West Midlands after less than a year at the club.
However, Hogan has turned things around in 2018 and his form in the box has been even more impressive than the physique of his moustachioed, wrestling namesake, Hulk. The Villa striker started the new year in the best possible way as he scored his first league goal of the season in the 5-0 rout of Bristol City on 1st January and his brace in Saturday's 3-1 win over Barnsley means he has now notched four goals in his last three league outings for the Villans.
In the wake of Villa's win over Barnsley, Steve Bruce said. "I am pleased for Scotty because there is no doubt he has had some dark times. He has had three or four injuries, but after scoring a goal against Bristol City he has come alive.
"He has only been at Villa for a year and we judge people in football after six weeks, which is unfair.
"I've said that you need stability and need to give players time to settle. I learnt that very quickly. Coming to Villa is more difficult because of the demands and expectations of playing for a big club."
Hogan is prospering as the lone forward in a 4-1-4-1 formation, with Albert Adomah, Jack Grealish, Conor Hourihane and Robert Snodgrass buzzing around to provide support to their striker, and his goals have helped Villa win four games in a row, thus moving to within three points of the automatic promotion places in the Championship table.
Hogan's form has also provided Bruce with a welcome dilemma - does the Villa boss need to sign a new striker in January? Bruce had been linked with a move for Leonardo Ulloa among others as he was keen to replace long-term injury absentee Jonathan Kodjia, while the raw Keinan Davis can't be relied on to provide regular goals yet and there are still fitness doubts surrounding the ageing Agbonlahor.
The emergence of Hogan in the last few weeks ensures Hogan could yet be the man to help bring Premier League football back to Villa Park. Promotion would mark a remarkable resurgence in the fortunes of a striker who wondered where his future lay only a few months ago.
