Aston Villa hero Mahmoud 'Trezeguet' Hassan said he was expecting his goalscoring heroics against Fulham because of the hard work he puts in during training.
Trezeguet replaced Anwar El Ghazi in the 62nd minute and he scored two quick-fire goals that helped Aston Villa turn Sunday's Premier League game at the Villa Park around.
Aleksandar Mitrovic had given Fulham the lead a minute after the hour-mark before the Egyptian winger scored the equaliser in the 78th minute and he netted again three minutes later.
Ollie Watkins completed the comeback for Aston Villa in the 87th minute, but Trezeguet believes his goals were reward for his persistence, having last scored a Premier League goal in July 2020.
“I am very happy for the goals, but I believe in myself,” Trezeguet told the club website. “I believed it was coming because I work really hard with the team and individually.
“I train every day and work on anything I might be missing to get better.
“Sometimes things don’t go your way, but as long as you work hard, it will come. It just takes time, but it will come.”
Aston Villa ended a poor run of four matches without a win with the victory and they climbed to ninth on the league table with 44 points after 29 matches.
With games against Liverpool and Manchester City coming in the next two weeks, the former Anderlecht and Kasimpasa winger is looking forward to ending his second Premier League season on a fine note.
“We have nine matches left; it is very important to finish in the best way possible,” he added.
“Whatever you do in the start of the season, how you finish is most important thing of course.
“We will try to finish in a better position than we are now. We climbed two positions in the table today, and I hope we finish where we deserve.
“We also have two tough games coming up against Liverpool and then Manchester City. It is very important to go to those matches well motivated.”