Aston Villa winger Charles N'Zogbia puts the upturn in his form this season down to hard work in training.
The Frenchman has struggled to make an impact at Villa Park since his ?9.5million arrival from Wigan back in summer 2011.
But the 26-year-old finally seems to be finding form under manager Paul Lambert after impressing in recent games.
N'Zogbia believes his improvement is down to the extra work he is putting in, telling The Sun: "You can have a gift but if you don't work on it you can do nothing with it. If I've improved it's because of the way I am training.
"Every day I'm here I'm working hard because if I want to stay in the team that's what I have to do. I'm even doing a bit of extra work after training and it is helping me."
Villa sit third from bottom in the Premier League ahead of their visit of reigning champions Manchester City on Monday night and are under pressure to steer themselves clear of relegation trouble.
Lambert's side have come in for criticism this season but N'Zogbia believes any new-look team needs time to gel before they can achieve success.
N'Zogbia said: "It's hard for any new team to get it right from the start. Even Barcelona weren't put together in a season.
"It took four or five years of hard work before Pep Guardiola reaped the rewards.
"It is not easy bringing in a lot of new players and forming a successful team."
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