Irish midfielder named Championship player of the month for August

He could be difficult to ignore for the next Republic of Ireland squad.

Conor Hourihane has been named Championship player of the month after some excellent performances for Barnsley. The 25-year-old midfielder registered three assists and scored two goals during August, including this stunning free-kick against Queens Park Rangers, helping the newly-promoted team to third in the table. Hourihane was part of Roy Keane's squad at Sunderland and Ipswich Town, but failed to make an appearance. He dropped down to League Two to sign for Plymouth Argyle in 2011, before making the move to Barnsley two years ago and winning promotion via the play-offs last season. The Cork native is a former U-21 international, and is understood to have been scouted by the Irish management team ahead of a first call-up to the Irish senior squad. If he keeps up his promising form it'll be hard to leave him out of the Ireland squad to play Georgia and Moldova in October. https://twitter.com/bfc_official/status/774110118707277829