Aston Villa's Conor Hourihane claims he never lost faith after going "from villain to hero" with Derby double

The 28-year-old delivered the perfect riposte to his critics by bagging a brace as Dean Smith’s men battered the Rams to record their biggest victory of the season.

It marked a dramatic turnaround for Hourihane, who just a fortnight before had felt the full force of fan frustration after being substituted during a dismal derby defeat to Albion.

But he said: “The fans pay their money and can have their own opinions. I don’t have a problem with it.

“One week you can be a villain, the next week you can be a hero. It's part and parcel of the game.”

Hourihane, who set Villa on their way to victory when he opened the scoring after just nine minutes, proved equally quick off the mark post-match when he corrected the club’s Twitter account for publishing incorrect statistics.

In a graphic praising his performance, Villa showed the midfielder as having seven assists this season, when he actually has nine.

Hourihane, who personally tweeted the official account to point out the error, smiled: “You’ve got to get these things right!”

He continued: “I felt I played a lot better the previous week against Stoke, after what happened against West Brom.

“You have to take the ups and downs and try to stay in the middle because it can change for you quickly.

“You have to show character and mental strength. I've had a half-decent career, played a lot of games consistently over the past few years so I must be doing something right.

“I always think when I'm going through a tough patch, just work even harder, never doubt yourself, keep self-belief as high as possible, you'll come through the bad patches.”

Villa expect to learn more today on the serious looking ankle injury sustained by Tommy Elphick during Saturday’s second-half.

The centre-back left the pitch on a stretcher and was due to undergo a scan yesterday.