Aston Villa's start to the season hasn't gone as planned.

The arrival of John Terry from Chelsea offered hints of the Birmingham outfit turning a corner and heading back towards the promised land of the Premier League. But the Villans have picked up just one point from their opening three games, including a 2-1 defeat at the hands of promotion hopefuls Reading last night.

Steve Bruce's side produced just three shots on target throughout the 90 minutes and finished up with just 33% possession.

But if there was one positive to take from the loss at the Madejski Stadium, it was the form of midfielder Conor Hourihane, who moved to Villa Park from Barnsley in January.

Of course, the Ireland international netted Villa's only goal of the evening, but his all-round performance was impressive as well - racking up the most created chances and the most tackles of any Villa player, whilst ranking second throughout Bruce's XI for touches of the ball.

They say every disappointment has a silver lining and amid a poor start to the season, Hourihane's impressive performance on his first start of the campaign at least gives Bruce something to build on ahead of Villa's next Championship outing - a difficult clash with Norwich at Villa Park.

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