Smith hails star’s wand of left foot
ASTON Villa boss Dean
Smith has lauded goal-hero Conor Hourihane, declaring: “He’s answered me back in the best way.”
The manager revealed how the Irishman was annoyed at being dropped at Manchester City last month.
Hourihane, who bagged a brilliant first against Newcastle on Monday night before setting up Anwar El Ghazi, put in a real stand-out display after being brought in from the cold once again.
And, speaking after the 2-0 win,
Smith said of bringing in the Cork-born star: “He’s got a goal threat. He wasn’t happy when I left him out of the side at Man City away.
“I understand why but it’s a squad game and he understands that I have decisions to make.
“I knew we’d spend a lot of that game (Man City) defending but, with this game, I knew we’d have a lot of the ball.
“He’s answered me back in the best way; in his last three starts he could have scored three goals: Norwich, scored against Brighton which was wrongfully ruled out and scored again against Newcastle. I’m really pleased for him.”
On the performance itself, Smith added: “It was a good performance, especially the first half. We controlled the ball really well and were pretty relentless with the ball.
“We knew we had to be. Newcastle made it difficult but, if you keep chasing the ball, players get frustrated and that’s what I said: be patient and move it at a good tempo and we ended up winning two free-kicks on the edge of our box. Conor, with his wand of a left foot, scores one and makes another. We saw the game out really well.”