Aston Villa journalist Dan Bardell has been singing the praises of Villa midfielder Conor Hourihane.
This comes after Bardell recently made an appearance on The Villa View, a YouTube-based show that covers topics surrounding the club.
During the episode, Bardell, alongside co-host Tom Julian, shared his thoughts on Hourihane and what he has offered the team in recent weeks.
He said: “Whether you rate Conor [Hourihane] or whether you don’t, and obviously we’re two people that rate him highly, you can’t deny that when he’s on the pitch, we’ve looked better this season. And he’s a weapon from set pieces.
“The way he looks after the ball is very underrated as well. I think a lot of people take that for granted. And he also allows Jack [Grealish] to have more freedom to come inside on the left, because Conor will quite often go on the overlap.”
The 29-year-old first signed to the Birmingham club back in the 2017 January transfer window from Barnsley for a fee of £3.15 million.
Since then, the midfielder, who is currently valued at £5.4 million, has gone on to make 143 appearances for Villa in which he has managed to score 28 goals and provide 21 assists along the way (per Transfermarkt).
Hourihane’s performances in the 24 Premier League appearances he’s made for Villa so far this season has earned him a season rating of 6.68/10, making him Villa’s seventh-highest rated player for this campaign (per WhoScored).
The Irishman’s latest performance for Villa in their 2-0 win over Crystal Palace at the weekend earned him a match rating of 7.83/10, making him Villa’s second-highest-rated player on the day.
Would you start Conor Hourihane in Villa's remaining games?
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TIF Thoughts…
It’s nice to hear Bardell sharing this praise for Hourihane and recognising what he offers the team. Everyone at Villa will now be hoping that the midfielder can replicate the same performance he showed against Palace in the rest of Villa’s remaining league fixtures.