Aston Villa manager Alex McLeish has lauded Stephen Ireland after he was named the fan's Player of the Year for the 2011/12 season.
The 25-year old midfielder has taken plenty of time to get back to his best in the West Midlands after joining from Manchester City in 2010 but he has turned it around in the second half of the season with McLeish agreeing with his fans award.
"There was the Chelsea game he was tremendous and he has really looked a different player.
"But I think what for me has improved Stevie's overall game is his harrying and chasing of opponents and closing people down which you really need all your midfield players to do.
"I said to him your natural game would come if you do that side of it and he did and probably one of the tackles of the season was his 60-yard chase back on Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
"He made a stealing tackle, where did that pace come from?!
"It shows you what can happen when a player has that confidence.""Stevie became pretty popular with the fans with some good performances, especially the Arsenal one at home, which unfortunately we never took any points from despite a good performance," McLeish told the club's official website.
