There are some players who will always attract criticism, be made a scapegoat for wider failings, have their limitations highlighted and their shortcomings bemoaned. At Newcastle United that player is Jacob Murphy.

There is often an expletive added before or after his name, or even in the middle. One angry voice screamed into the Tyneside air after ‘Jacob f------ Murphy’ had missed a wonderful chance to open the scoring in the first half. It illustrated the point.

But it was Jacob f------ Murphy who did as much as anyone to secure a much-needed, revitalising win for Newcastle.

He scored twice, including the all-important first goal and could have had a hat-trick. The 29-year-old, written off by so many supporters and pundits as not good enough, left the pitch to a standing ovation, which was in stark contrast to the moans and groans that frequently follow him around.

Everybody knows that Newcastle want to sign a new, right-sided forward in January; they have needed an upgrade in Murphy’s preferred position for years, but still he keeps coming back, and keeps silencing his critics. It is rather heartwarming.

This is a player who was a boyhood fan of the club. A player written off and discarded so many times through the years, but who keeps bouncing back. Whatever qualities he lacks, resilience is not one of them. He knows he may well be replaced next month, but he did not let that affect him.

Rightly or wrongly, Murphy is regularly held up as a symbol of Newcastle’s stagnation. A player who was largely disappointing when Rafael Benítez signed him for £12million from Norwich City back in 2017.

A winger who was deemed not good enough for the Premier League and sent out on loan to West Brom and then to Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship, who ended up being brought back into the fold by Steve Bruce because the manager was prevented from signing anyone to replace him the following summer.

He belongs to a previous era at St James’ Park, but has somehow survived and occasionally thrived in the new one. This was one of those days and it is testimony to Eddie Howe’s ability to improve players that Murphy can deliver displays like this.

Throughout all the negativity, Murphy has quietly become one of Newcastle’s longest-serving players. Not good enough, perhaps, to establish them as a top-six side, but what he does bring is pace, character and a passion to give his all for the shirt. He will never hide, he will never give up. There is a reason Howe likes him and that faith was repaid against Leicester.

Murphy’s first goal was a lovely, controlled finish from the edge of the area at the end of a well-worked corner routine. He ran off in the direction of Strawberry Corner, screaming “what, what, what” while cupping his ear to the stands. He had heard the negativity, the collective disgruntlement after his earlier misses.

His second goal, Newcastle’s fourth, was a thumping finish after Alexander Isak had brought the defenders to him and set him up perfectly. Isak scored Newcastle’s third with a close-range header, Bruno scored their second.

It was the ideal response to a really bad defeat at Brentford and precisely the sort of confidence boost a faltering team need.

There is always noise at Newcastle and after defeats it can feel suffocatingly negative, but that is when you need players like Murphy to respond. He is used to dealing with it, blocking it out.

And it was thanks to him that Newcastle emerged from a potentially difficult test with renewed purpose and vigour. Their season has been reignited, albeit against a desperately poor Leicester side who could easily have been on the end of a six- or seven-nil thrashing.

“I’m really pleased for him, he got two assists last weekend as well,” said Howe. “That wasn’t lost on me, but nothing substitutes scoring for an attacking player and to get two goals here, after missing a couple of early opportunities, shows his resilience.

“He’s a really valuable player, because wherever you put him, whenever he plays, you know he is going to perform to the best of his abilities and he has come on leaps and bounds since I’ve been here.”