And that secret is .......... a perverbial boot up the backside from manager Eddie Howe!
O'Kane, speaking in the Bournemouth Evening Echo, is quoted as saying: "Before I played against Carlisle, he sat me down and said ‘I need to demand things of you physically if you want to play in there (central midfield) in a two’. He basically told me if I couldn’t do it, then I wouldn’t play. Thankfully, I went in and managed to do what he required of me. He said he didn’t want to have me as a luxury player who could only play in the hole or in a three. He said he needed me to prove that I could play in a two and that requires doing a lot of the dirty work. But he also said he didn’t have any doubt about my footballing ability, it was just the uglier side he needed convincing on. Hopefully, I have now managed to convince him I can do that and I will stay in the team for quite a while".