OPINION
There will always be games on the calendar which players mark as ones they are desperate to play in – and Aston Villa maestro Jack Grealish has revealed his loud and clear.
Unsurprisingly for the home grown Villan, the clash he is most excited about is the midlands derby against Birmingham City later this month, but with just one game between the visit of the Blues to Villa Park, he has a serious issue to contend with.
In revealing his desperation to feature in the local derby, Grealish told Villa’s in-house media team: “They are all big games you don’t get any easy games in this league, every game is a tough game, if you are playing someone at the bottom it’s a tough game.
“We are just going to take each game as it comes.For me personally I need not to get another yellow card to miss any, I have got one left now for about another four or five games, that’s my aim. (The clash v Birmingham) That’s the one I am looking forward to the most.”
Grealish knows his rules well, and with the threat of suspension hanging over his head should he pick up another yellow card, he knows he has to take things carefully against Derby this weekend in order to be available for the visit of Birmingham after the international break.
However, that simply will not do for Dean Smith.
The manager cannot have a player not performing at 100 per cent, especially against a dangerous looking side who are competition for a top six spot this season, and with Grealish keeping one eye on the Birrmingham clash, it means the boss needs to swing the shock axe on the head of the Villa Park faithful.
That is not to say Grealish is wrong for prioritising games – he is only human after all – and Smith would be doing him a favour in helping him avoid heartbreak by surprisingly pulling him out the squad and leaving him for after the international break.