Aston Villa’s midfield maestro Jack Grealish is set to sit out of at least the club’s next three games as they plot an early February return date from his ongoing shin setback, according to the Mirror.
The newspaper claim on their website that the Villans are not expecting the 23-year-old to be back before the end of January and have pencilled in the clash against Sheffield United on February 8th as a potential return, leaving him ruled out of at least three more games – against Hull City, Ipswich Town and Reading.
Being ruled out of that trio of games would mean that Grealish will have missed Villa’s last 10 outings.
Opinion
Other reports recently have slapped a mid-February return date on Grealish so this is a little bit of positive news, although you can be sure that the Villans would rather that he was on the pitch here and now rather than in a couple of weeks. They have not looked to have anywhere near the same cutting edge in their attacks as when the homegrown Villa ace has been playing and the results in his absence tell the whole story, the Villans struggling to keep up with the rest of the chasing pack in the hunt for a top six finish. Dean Smith’s side are by no means a one-man team but if this injury has not demonstrated how much they rely on Grealish then nothing will. Really the manager needs to find someone who can fill the void left and give the senior star some real competition for when he returns. Whether that comes from the current Villa side or as a January signing, only Smith can decide.