COLLIN SAMUEL was last night likened to Forrest Gump - because he would keep running until somebody stopped him.
Now the Dundee United striker has changed his style and is no longer just getting his head down and heading for goal.
United boss Gordon Chisholm insists the 24-year-old Trinidad and Tobago international has instead become a team player and is willing to share the ball.
Chisholm said: "Sammy is coming on quite a bit and you can see from his performances the penny has finally dropped.
"He now knows he's part of a team and has to link up with the other players.
"In the past he was just like Forrest Gump - he'd get the ball, put his head down and run until someone stopped him.
"Now he's actually looking to play passes, run in behind and create for other people."
Samuel, a £100,000 buy from Falkirk three years ago, has endured a frustrating spell at Tannadice and was even told the club were willing to give him a free transfer last season.
Work permit problems killed a move to Scunthorpe in January so Samuel returned to United and has fought his way back into the squad.
He still has to work his way past Lee Miller,David Fernandez and Jim McIntyre to become a regular but his manager has seen enough from Samuel's substitute appearances to suggest that he can have a future at the club.
Chisholm said: "The challenge for him now is to keep it up because he'll get his chance eventually.
"When you have pace like him you will cause any team problems but pace alone is not enough.
"When he arrived here he didn't have the same streetwise nature Scottish players of the same age have so he's had to adapt his whole game.
"He has spent three seasons learning from experienced players and it's rubbing off."