Hourihane moved to Villa Park from Barnsley in January.
Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce has suggested that Conor Hourihane’s set-piece ability can prove the difference for his side in games this season, as reported by the Birmingham Mail.
Bruce signed Hourihane from Barnsley last month to boost the creative and goalscoring firepower of his side.
However, the Irishman’s debut did not go well, as Villa put in arguably one of their worst performances of the season on Tuesday night to go down 3-0 at Brentford.
Nevertheless, Hourihane’s record in the Championship so far this season is superb. The 25-year-old racked up 11 goals and six assists for the Tykes before his move to B6.
Bruce voiced his pleasure at the way in which his former Sunderland youth prospect has kicked on with his career, and believes there is one aspect of Hourihane’s game which can greatly benefit Villa.
Bruce said, via the Birmingham Mail: “I had Conor when he was a boy at Sunderland. It was his desire to go to Ipswich with Roy Keane and we let him do that. It didn’t quite work out for him at both clubs.
“Then he’s gone on his journey and said ‘well I’m going to roll my sleeves up and shop you people that I’ve got something to offer’.
“He did fantastically well at Plymouth and then got his move to Barnsley and over the last few years at Barnsley – after being at Hull and watching him on various occasions – he’s turned into a very decent footballer.
“He’s got that wonderful delivery that we’ve seen. How many times do we see a game won by a setpiece ? So he’s got that feather in his cap which is always good to have.”
Villa fans will certainly be hoping to see some – any, in fact – moments of individual quality from Hourihane over the next three-and-a-half months or so as they look to salvage their season with a late play-off push.
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