Stuart Pearce has praised a player who hardly featured in Saturday's win over West Ham for a selfless off-the-field moment that typified the team's spirit.
Georgios Samaras's two goals earned the plaudits from the fans and pundits alike, but the Manager has revealed that the man the Greek striker replaced made the effort to tell him just how well he had done after the game.
Pearce said: "People are not privy to one thing that epitomised us against West Ham, and it came after I left out Paul Dickov last Wednesday and again on Saturday. He came into the dressing room when he knew no-one was looking, where Georgios was seeing the doctor because he had a blow to the head. Paul went straight up to him and said, 'That was absolutely brilliant today.'
"Now this guy had taken his place and scored two goals. George's finishing was brilliant, but Dicky did not have to do that and say what he said.
"If you get characters like that, who say 'this team's much bigger than I am', you've got half a chance in my eyes."