Stoke City boss Michael O’Neill is hoping that winger Tom Ince is boosted ahead of the Potters' trip to Leeds United by the goal he scored against Barnsley.
The 28-year-old scored the fourth goal for his side in a 4-0 Championship victory against fellow strugglers Barnsley on Saturday to create distance from the relegation zone.
The strike against the Tykes was just the third goal of the season for Ince, with the previous strike coming against Charlton Athletic in early February.
Stoke boss O'Neill hopes that the goal can be a timely boost for the winger, as his side head into a tough looking clash at Leeds on Thursday.
“Tom has had a difficult season by his own admission”, O'Neill told his club's official site.
"I think we have been patient with him and given him a lot of game time.
"It’s not been through a lack of effort, sometimes players lose their way a little bit, Tom’s probably done that.
“There are aspects of his play that he knows he needs to improve.
"We’ve worked hard to try and get him to run in behind more.
"We’d also like more crosses and more shots from Tom because what we saw on Saturday is that he possesses real quality – it was a fantastic finish.
“Hopefully what it does is give him that lift because what you saw how his team-mates reacted when he scored the goal.
“A Tom Ince at his maximum, doing what we know he can do, can be a massive player for us.”
Ince has come up against Leeds on nine occasions in his career so far and has come out on the winning side on five occasions.
The winger has netted twice against the Whites and provided three assists, and O'Neill will hope that Ince is on song on Thursday at Elland Road.
