AT the end of Sunday’s 2-2 draw at Ipswich Town, Adama Traore strolled over to Middlesbrough’s travelling fans carrying a plastic bag full of football shirts.

A couple of seconds later, he was handing them out to some of the supporters that had made the long trip to Portman Road. Each and every one featured his name and number, and the word “Believe”.

Over the course of the last two-and-a-half years, there are plenty of people who have lacked belief in Traore.

Tim Sherwood, Remi Garde and Eric Black all had the opportunity to play him as Aston Villa crashed out of the Premier League in the 2015-16 season, but refused to hand him a single league start.

Aitor Karanka shelled out £6m to sign him, but waited more than two months before handing him a first Premier League appearance. Garry Monk toyed with the idea of building a team around him, but got cold feet after the winger picked up a petulant red card at Villa Park.

Traore is a different player now to the one that was available to any of those managers, and it can be argued that his transformation has occurred largely because of belief. Prior to Tony Pulis’ arrival at the Riverside, no one really believed in Traore’s ability to transform a game. They knew he had talent – Karanka in particular used to enthuse about the winger’s ‘natural qualities’ – but there was always a ‘but’. “He’s young, he has a lot to learn. Maybe he’s better starting on the bench.”

Pulis believes. Pigeon-holed somewhat unfairly as a managerial dinosaur obsessed by long balls and six foot centre-halves, the Middlesbrough manager is the first person who has truly glimpsed the full extent of Traore’s capabilities. He doesn’t see the 22-year-old as a maverick or a player to be kept on an extremely tight leash. He sees him as a match winner, capable of doing things that are beyond the compass of any other player in the Championship.

He won’t admit it, but Pulis probably also knows he will only have Traore’s services for up to three more matches. If Boro fail to win the play-offs, there is no chance of the Spaniard still being on Teesside at the start of next season. Even if they are promoted, Boro will still find it all-but-impossible to hold on to their star performer if Chelsea table the £30m bid that is widely anticipated.

So Traore might well have three games in which to crown his Boro career. Little wonder that Pulis is so keen to ensure he is not kicked out of contention before he has an opportunity to fire his side to Wembley.

The biggest threat facing Boro over the two legs of their play-off semi-final with Aston Villa is not Traore underperforming. Even on one of his quieter days, the winger still pulls defenders out of position and creates space for those around him. Give him the ball, and something will happen.

Instead, Boro’s biggest fear is that Traore is taken out of the equation by the kind of tackle he has increasingly found himself having to ride in the last couple of months. No longer an unknown quantity, Traore now has a target on his back, and while Steve Bruce will not be instructing his defenders to go over the top as they ponder how to stop the quickest player in the Championship, you can bet he has been encouraging them to adopt a ‘robust approach’.

“We don’t want to be losing him,” said Pulis, in the wake of Sunday’s game at Portman Road. His words didn’t relate to the summer; instead they referred to the risk of Traore suffering an injury at a crucial stage of the play-off campaign.

Bryan Klug, Ipswich’s stand-in boss, admitted Traore “gets Boro fouls”, but while that is not to be sniffed at given the threat posed by Daniel Ayala, Ben Gibson and George Friend from set-pieces, it comes with a series of risks attached. Pulis would rather Traore was given a fair crack of the whip than see him repeatedly chopped to the floor.

There is a risk of being too reliant on one player as well of course, and when Boro drew at Burton Albion last month, it felt as though their only approach was to feed the ball to Traore’s feet. That was then though, this is now, and with the season having moved to its knock-out phase, it makes sense for Pulis to focus on his biggest attacking asset.

That is undoubtedly Traore, and with Aston Villa’s first-choice left-back, Neil Taylor, struggling with a hamstring injury sustained in his side’s 1-1 draw with Derby, the rest of the Boro team will be encouraged to feed their Spanish winger as quickly as possible during Saturday’s first leg at the Riverside.

If Taylor fails to make it, Villa will almost certainly have to play 33-year-old Alan Hutton up against Traore. It doesn’t need a top-notch analyst to determine who would win a race between that pair.

Softly-spoken and polite, Traore has consistently refused to criticise Aston Villa for the way he was treated during his season in the Midlands. Deep down, though, you suspect it must have hurt.

Over the next two games, he has the chance to right some wrongs. Having seen his potential at first hand, Villa know exactly what is coming their way on Saturday night. Knowing is one thing though; doing something about it is a completely different proposition.