The Aston Villa defender did well against Queens Park Rangers at the weekend.
When Aston Villa fans discovered that summer signing John Terry would be out injured until at least January, talk quickly turned to who would replace him, and the prospect of Chris Samba stepping in caused more consternation than celebration.
However, the centre-back impressed in Villa’s 2-1 victory against Queens Park Rangers on Saturday, suggesting that Steve Bruce’s side will be able to cope without their experienced former England international provided Samba shows the consistency required in the weeks ahead.
It is one thing impressing in a single match and quite another doing the job week in, week out.
That said, Villa fans did not see the horror show some expected when Samba took to the field against QPR and, if he can quickly build up an effective partnership with James Chester he could ensure the Villans maintain their promotion push at a vital time in the campaign.
At 33, and with a lack of pace, Samba was quickly cast as the flop-in-waiting and, if he has been paying attention to that criticism, he would have no doubted wanted to prove people wrong.
He is vastly experienced and Bruce obviously trusts him to do a job ahead of the overlooked Tommy Elphick, and one wonders if the Villa man can become an unlikely hero in the weeks ahead.
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