KAA Gent boss Hein Vanhaezebrouck has defended Gift Orban following recent criticisms of the Player from sections of Belgian media.

Orban, who started his Gent career on high note, scoring important goals for the club in the league and in Europe was questioned following his recent poor run of form and media outburst, where he criticised his manager.

The youngster failed to score in five games coinciding with Gent’s dip and in that period they were eliminated from the UEFA Europa Conference League, and also missed out on a Jupiler Pro League title playoff spot.

The struggles forced Orban’s relegation from the starting 11, but at the weekend, the 20 year-old was recalled and handed a starter’s spot against Standard Liege and he marked it with a goal.

Reacting to questions on the player’s
mentality, Vanhaezebrouck admited that Orban was affected by the whole episode.

“He’s just a guy with an incredible amount of talent,” Vanhaezebrouck told Het Nieuwsblad.

“And that (criticisms) affects him too. But then it’s up to us to help him make room for that. If people write nonsense, we can very easily explain that to that boy.”

Gent and Orban have started strongly in the European Playoffs, recording two wins from two matches.

The younger forward has scored 16 goals for Vanhaezebrouck’s team in all competitions.