Aston Villa news: Conor Hourihane mocks Fulham over celebrations
ASTON VILLA star Conor Hourihane has warned Fulham that their play-off ‘selfie’ celebrations might turn to out to be premature.
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The Irishman says Villa have ‘noted’ jubilant pictures posted on social media by Cottagers players celebrating reaching Wembley for the Championship play-off final.
But Slavisa Jokanovic’s men must beat Villa on May 26 to earn a place back in the Premier League.
And Hourihane says the Midlands club toned down their celebrations after beating Middlesbrough following Fulham’s reaction to victory over Derby.
“That’s been mentioned, don’t worry,” said Hourihane, 27. “They celebrated like they won the league or something like that. We had calm celebrations, everyone was just in the dressing room high-fiving each other.
“There was nothing major going on in the dressing room at all because there’s more business to be done.
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They celebrated like they won the league or something like that
“Fulham are a good side, they finished ahead of us in the League, deservedly so. The League table doesn’t lie.
“They might be slight favourites going into it, but all the best to them if they fancy themselves more than us because we’ll be ready for it, that’s for sure.”
Hourihane has climbed back to the Championship from League Two after failing to make the grade in the second tier as a youngster with both Sunderland and Ipswich.
Now he is targeting a hat-trick of Wembley victories having triumphed twice there with Barnsley in 2016.
The former Plymouth man was in the Tykes team that beat Oxford in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy final before defeating Millwall in the League One play-off final.
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“The play-off experience with Barnsley has definitely helped me,” he said. “The other lads here, they’ve played in big games. This is probably one of the biggest campaigns I’ve been involved in.
“Having that experience of play-offs with Barnsley, I knew what was coming, and I know what is coming in the final as well so that might give me an edge.
“I’ve probably done it the harder way to a lot of lads in that dressing room, I’ve come from the lower leagues all the way up.
“A lot of the lads have been in the Premier League and been at a high level, we’ve met in the middle here so hopefully the hard work will pay off with one more game at Wembley.”