Dean Smith comments on Aston Villa midfielder Conor Hourihane

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Conor Hourihane scored for Aston Villa against Derby County at the weekend.

Aston Villa manager Dean Smith has told the club’s official website what Conor Hourihane did wrong in the first half against Derby County.

Hourihane scored a superb free kick for Villa in their 3-0 win against Derby away from home at the Pride Park Stadium in the Championship on Saturday afternoon.

The 27-year-old midfielder – who joined Villa from Barnsley in January 2017 for a transfer fee reported by The Irish Examiner to be worth £3 million – found the target in the 84th minute of the encounter.

Villa manager Smith was pleased with the overall performance of the Republic of Ireland international, but the former Brentford boss suggested that the midfielder could have done better in the first half.

Smith told Villa’s official website about Hourihane’s free-kick goal: “It was very good, and similar to the one he scored at Blackburn. He gets a number of goals and assists every season.

“In the first half he probably tried to force a few forward balls too much. But in the second half he used the ball really well.

“The back five can thank those in front of them today, who worked so hard to win the ball back.”

Stats

Hourihane has made nine starts and seven substitute appearances for Villa in the Championship so far this season, scoring two goals and providing five assists in the process, according to WhoScored.

Against Derby, the 27-year-old took one shot which resulted in a goal, played one key pass, had a pass accuracy of 85.2%, and had 67 touches, according to WhoScored.