It was an extremely frustrating evening for Aston Villa in the Sky Bet Championship last night, with Steve Bruce’s side beaten by Queens Park Rangers at Villa Park.

Villa entered the contest riding a wave after a marvellous victory over Wolves at the weekend, but came unstuck against QPR, who were 3-1 winners at Villa Park.

Goals from Ryan Manning, Jake Bidwell and Luke Freeman put Ian Holloway’s side into a 3-0 lead against Villa, who could only celebrate James Chester’s late consolation goal.

Last night’s performance was a stark contrast to the one that blew Wolves away at the weekend, with the same starting XI failing to impress against a mid-table side.

One of that starting XI was Conor Hourihane, who put in a tired performance in central midfield and lasted 81 minutes before Birkir Bjarnason replaced him.

Following Hourihane’s limited impact against QPR, there was plenty of criticism sent his way…