Swansea City's Conor Hourihane admits soft spot for Championship play-off rivals Barnsley

The Irishman spent two-and-a-half seasons with the Tykes from 2014 to 2017 and ironically helped them get promoted via the play offs under Paul Heckingbottom in the 2015-16 campaign, when they reached the Championship.

He will come face to face with his old side in the two-legged semi-final next week, with the first game set to take place on Monday before the return fixture a week on Saturday.

Ahead of the meeting, the 30-year-old said: “I am excited about it, I can tell you that without any doubt.

"That [Barnsley] is a club I hold very fond to my heart now, they put me on the map really.

"We had great success there, we won at Wembley twice. I have been back there a few times since and they are a fantastic club and I was in the right place at the right time.

“I still speak to Paul Heckingbottom as he was my boss there, and a few of the other lads. I had a great time there.”

As well as play-off triumph, Hourihane, who joined the Swans on loan from Aston Villa in January, helped Barnsley win the Football League Trophy in the same season they were promoted.

He left South Yorkshire in January 2017 to sign for Villa, then in the second tier, and helped them to promotion to the top flight two seasons later, again via the play-offs.

“I know what the goal is here, I know how great promotion is, and I know what is at the end of the road and I want to get this club get over that line,” Hourihane said of these huge upcoming matches.

“I love it when things are this way. It was the same for me at Barnsley and it has been the same almost throughout my time at Villa.

“It is exciting. Your career is short, so you always want to be involved in a team that is striving for something.

“You want games to have something on them, to be important and be a factor in what the future of the club holds. I know I am on loan, but I want to make a difference here, I want to help this club get to where it wants to be.

“That’s why I will always take these situations over playing 10 games at the end of the year in mid-table.

“Don’t get me wrong, you always want to win and perform, but knowing you are fighting for promotion is a different feeling.

“I know what’s it like getting promoted to the Premier League, and I know what it’s like coming down that final stretch and I loved it.

“You’re a footballer, this is what you want, to be fighting to achieve things at the business end of the season.”

“I am excited about it, I can tell you that without any doubt.”