TAMIR Cohen credited his lucky penny with an assist as the Israel international shrugged of months of injury misery to grab the equaliser against Villa.

The 25-year-old midfielder popped up on 60 minutes with a neat volley to earn the Whites a deserved point, which edged them ever closer to safety.

However, Cohen — only in the side because of an injury to Ricardo Gardner — put his good fortune down to a gift given to him before kick-off.

“When I scored the goal, I ran to my wife and two friends who had come to visit me from Israel,” he explained.

“They gave me an Israeli Shekel to put in my sock and said it was blessed with luck. I put it in my right sock and it worked.”

Cohen’s only previous strike was scored in defeat against his father Avi’s former club Liverpool just over a year ago, yet his first-team chances since then have been limited in the extreme.

A thigh injury has kept him out for most of the season but a goal for the reserves last week, also against Liverpool, was perhaps enough to see him given the nod over youngster Chris Basham.

“I have waited for the chance for a long time,” said the former Maccabi Netanya man.

“It wasn’t my best game but like I said when I first came here, I want to get better and improve every session I play.

“It has been a very hard year for me. I was injured for five months and I’m only now getting back match fit. I’m happy for the chance and the goal was a bonus.

“Maybe made the gaffer think about me for the next game. I hope he will.”

Cohen was Gary Megson’s first signing, arriving last January but he has since made only four first team starts.

But he is now hoping a well-taken goal and a performance rewarded with a standing ovation from the home support will be enough to see him move up the pecking order.

“I hope the gaffer will let me carry on,” he said. “I do my best in training and every minute of every game.

“It was nice to get that from the crowd. I hope that they see I try very hard. To score is a bonus for me but my job is to run and to move the game along — the back role.”