The international break is coming to an end and few fans will be as pleased about that as ones of Aston Villa.

The Villans have been excellent in recent weeks to give themselves a real shot at promotion via the play-offs and it is clear that momentum is with them.

Jack Grealish's return has been a key part in that, too, but it is also safe to say that a number of other players have raised their game in recent weeks.

One such man, then, is Conor Hourihane with Villa's midfield showing all the attributes you'd want in a promotion challenge.

They've energy in John McGinn, steel in Glenn Whelan and class in Jack Grealish - whilst Hourihane has shown he's more than capable of standing out, too, in a fine quartet of options.

Obviously, not all of them can play in the same side but when each have come in in recent weeks they have done well, giving Dean Smith a nice headache each weekend.

Things will be no different against Blackburn next time out, then, with Hourihane excelling for Ireland last night with a superb free-kick against Georgia.

Without doubt, he could be a real key component in the coming weeks with his technique on the ball and Smith, evidently, is going to have to find a way to juggle them all.