Barnsley’s Conor Hourihane eager to impress

He’ll be back on the stage he belongs tonight when Everton visit Oakwell in the Capital One Cup but whether Conor Hourihane can stay there while at Barnsley remains to be seen.

A promising teenager at Sunderland and at Ipswich Town when he followed Roy Keane to Portman Road, the Cork midfielder is now 24 and regarded as a player capable of maintaining his climb back towards the big time.

Hourihane played a remarkable 53 times last season during his first term with Barnsley, having joined the League One club on the back of three strong years a tier lower at Plymouth Argyle, and attracted the eye of numerous Championship suitors.