JACK WHERE I BELONG
Grealish: I’m a big-occasion player and Villa are a big-time club.. this is OUR moment
JACK GREALISH wants another crack at the Premier League to be “where Aston Villa belong”.
The midfielder was the stand-out player as Steve Bruce’s men took a one-goal lead ahead of the play-off semi-final second leg against Middlesbrough.
Grealish’s deceptively quick and smooth dribbling carried the game to Boro and he is hoping to be an even bigger influence tonight.
The England Under-21 international was praised by Bruce for his improved all-round game and is desperate to reach a Wembley final.
Grealish, 22, said: “I’m not trying to boast, but I’ve played at Wembley, an FA Cup Final and semi-final. But this could be the biggest game to get back to the Premier League, where this club belongs.
“It’s certainly one of the biggest games I’ve played in, but I’m relishing it – these are the games you live for.
“I was happy to get the man-of-the-match award. Hopefully I can do that again on Tuesday. It’s a massive game, the play-offs, everyone’s watching.
“Everyone knows how big it is, but we’ve got to treat it as just a game of football, what we’ve done all our lives. We’ll try not to let the occasion get to us.”
Grealish is happy for Boro to knock him around Villa Park, adding: “I got a few on Saturday. I don’t mind getting kicked. I like it. I go on like I don’t! But I do. It shows the opposition are keeping an eye on me.
“It’s the same as Adama Traore. He gets it all the time because he’s such a good player. I got on really well with him at Villa, I still speak to him now.
“We weren’t going out to kick him or hurt him, but you’ve got to be wary of these players. He’s that fast, you need more than one or two players on him. It worked in the first leg. He could win the game for them and I’m sure he’s desperate to against his old club. We’ll be working hard for that not to happen.”
The youngster says there were no celebrations after taking the lead in the tie.
He said: “We’ll go into the second leg with great confidence having got a result. We’re looking forward to it, but it is only half-time.”
Villa have not been beaten this season after taking the lead. Grealish added: “The manager and coaching staff will know stuff like that. It’ll give us great confidence.
“That’d be like celebrating at half-time in a league game. It’s my first experience of the play-offs, but quite a few of the other lads have been in them, so they can pass on their experience.”