Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce has played down rumours that star midfielder Conor Hourihane could be on his way to Brighton.

In a report by the Birmingham Mail, and speaking following a 1-0 win over Bolton made it four wins on the bounce, Bruce appeared to shoot down any sort of rumours around his midfield ace and moving to the Premier League.

"I only spoke to Chris Hughton a week ago and he didn’t mention anything about Conor and why would he now?" said Bruce. He’s got other things to worry about like most of us have rather than the transfer window.

"Nobody will leave unless it’s ridiculous sums of money."

Hourihane has come to the fore more and more this season and has become a key man as Villa have finally turned the corner and started delivering some results in the Championship. He has started all four games in their current winning run, and looks to be finding the form he showed at Barnsley which earnt him the move to Villa Park.

He has notched five goals already this season and looks to be well on his way to double figures.

The Verdict

Hourihane is a top quality midfielder at Championship level and looks to be back to his best. If he can maintain his form and keep firing the goals in, there's every chance at Villa could be in the promotion mix come the end of the season.

Villa fans, what do you think? How good has Hourihane been? Let us know!