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Wed 1 February 2017 15:35, UK

By Will Butcher

Conor Hourihane made his debut for Aston Villa against Brentford – and fans reacted with disappointment to his first performance in claret and blue.

Steve Bruce’s side were trounced 3-0 by Dean Smith’s side on Tuesday night, who sold top scorer Scott Hogan to the Midlands giants on deadline day for a fee rising to £12million.

Hourihane, who joined Villa from Barnsley earlier in the window, started alongside fellow new signings Birkir Bjarnason and Henri Lansbury in central midfield at Griffin Park.

But the midfield trio failed to prevent Villa from suffering Bruce’s biggest defeat at Villa since taking over from Roberto Di Matteo in October.

The Irishman struggled to provide the difference for Villa, as expectant fans took to Twitter to share their frustration over their new signings – with many dismayed at Hourihane’s display.

Here is a selection of their messages on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/nialld23/status/826530033011396609

Signing for an undisclosed fee, Hourihane put pen to paper on a three-and-a-half-year deal in the Midlands.

The former Barnsley captain will be hoping that he can help continue manager Bruce’s reputation as a promotion expert by launching a late assault on the Championship’s top six.

However, the loss to Brentford leaves Villa in 14th place and 10 points off the play-offs.

In other Aston Villa news, Villa completed the signing of this attacker on deadline-day.

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