Romaine Sawyers has had vastly different experiences after being taken off by Brentford head coach Dean Smith.
The midfielder was jeered as he was withdrawn against Barnsley in October but received a standing ovation against Derby on Good Friday.
It has marked a remarkable about turn in fan perception of the Saint Kitts and Nevis international but, for Sawyers, he refused to let either delight him or depress him.
Sawyers said: “If I'm being honest the standing ovation didn't make me overly excited and the jeers didn't make me overly disappointed. I've got to take both with a pinch of salt.
“I can't not accept the jeers and then rant and rave about the standing ovation. You've got to take both in your stride.
“Two opposite ends of the spectrum happened to me. If I was down in the dumps after Barnsley I'd never get to that level where I get the standing ovation.”
The Barnsley home fixture was the week before QPR and it could have been a difficult week for Sawyers but he answered his critics in the best possible way by scoring and the joy etched on his face was shared by his team-mates, staff and fans in the School End of Loftus Road.
He added: “After the Barnsley game, some people could have seen it as a difficult week but my team-mates helped me.
“If you see the celebrations again, they're just as happy if not happier for me. Scotty ran up to me and said I deserved it more than anyone.
“People like the skip in Harlee; he's always supportive and always positive in his speaking. The week leading up to the game was easy.
“It was a relief for me to score my first Brentford goal and beating a rival is always good.”
Sawyers was lauded on social media after the game and he knows how much it meant to the supporters.
He explained: "I'm on social media but the response you get from the fans on Twitter about how much it meant to them. Peter Gilham looked as if he wanted to cry after the game.
"We know what three points can do but, as a fan to beat your local rivals it puts the place into a good place. The more smiling faces the better for everyone.
The midfielder added: "Ultimately we want to please the fans so maybe, subconsciously, you want to give it a big push but everyone prepares the same as if it was any other team."
Keep up to date with the latest news in west London via the freegetwestlondonapp. You can even set it to receive push notifications for all the breaking news in your area.
Available to download from the App Store or Google Play for Android now!
