It is fair to suggest that Scott Hogan has had a tough time during the last couple of seasons.
During the first half of the 2018/19 campaign, he made just six substitute appearances for Aston Villa, which totalled a measly 68 minutes.
That was followed up by a loan at Sheffield United for the second half of the campaign, as the Blades pushed on to the Premier League.
While that achievement would have been good to be involved in, he was afforded just five starts and three substitute appearances, though he did manage to score two goals and get one assist during that limited time.
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With Villa also going into the top tier, through the play-offs, he was seemingly deemed not good enough for Premier League football.
This saw him loaned out to Stoke City, who currently sit 19th in the table, just seven points from the relegation zone in the Championship.
Even then, the Republic of Ireland international has struggled for game time, making four league starts and nine appearances from the bench, scoring three goals in 428 minutes.
He hasn't scored in any of his last six games, but it should be noted that has only seen him play 144 minutes.
To add to the annoyance of his lack of game time, it has now been suggested that Stoke want to get rid of the 27-year-old.
Considering how unwanted and underused Hogan has been for the last season and a half, this will surely be a devastating blow for him.
The fact that Stoke are actively looking to get rid of him, while Villa seemingly don't want to push things through to get him a good move shows just how little he is valued by the two clubs.
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It will be hoped that he can find a club where he will get regular match time and have his confidence boosted, but that is what the loan to Stoke was meant to be - it clearly hasn't turned out that way.
Meanwhile, Aston Villa's youngster who has previously been likened to Jamie Vardy is hailed once again.