Conor Hourihane links up with Ireland after Wembley loss

CONOR Hourihane will look to put his Wembley heartbreak behind him after linking up with the Republic of Ireland squad in Spain this week.

After Swansea’s Championship play-off final defeat to Brentford at Wembley last Saturday, the Bandon soccer star (30) took the first flight to Spain to join the Irish team on a training camp ahead of international friendlies against Andorra and Hungary.

The Swans can have no complaints after their 2-0 loss in the play-off final as Brentford were full value for their win that has taken them into the Premier League for the first time. Early goals from Ivan Toney and Emiliano Marcondes gave Brentford the dream start and a lead they never looked like losing.

It was a disappointing day for Hourihane who didn’t make the impact he was hoping for and he was replaced after 63 minutes.

While Swansea manager Steve Cooper said that the team will use their Wembley defeat as motivation for next season, Hourihane’s future is up in the air and it’s likely that was his last game with Swansea, having joined on loan from Aston Villa in January.

He will head back to Villa now and has one year left on his contract, but he knows he has a decision to make on his future this summer.

Hourihane found himself struggling for regular game time at Villa so went out on loan to play more. He must now decide whether he wants to fight for place at Villa in the Premier League or go in search of more playing time elsewhere.

This week his focus will be on the Republic of Ireland as they play Andorra this Thursday, June 3rd, in Barcelona before travelling to Budapest to take on Hungary on Tuesday, June 8th.