‘This means the world to me!’ Grealish determined to help boyhood club back into Prem
VILLA’S march to Wembley “means the world” to Jack Grealish. Steve Bruce’s men booked their place in the Championship play-off final against Fulham after beating Middlesbrough over two legs.
Grealish was denied a goal in Tuesday night’s 0-0 draw at Villa Park by a stunning save from Boro goalkeeper Darren Randolph, who tipped his shot on to the post with Villa good value for their 1-0 victory on aggregate.
The midfielder was mobbed by fans at the final whistle as he celebrated on the pitch and is now determined to help his boyhood club back to the Premier League.
Grealish said: “It really means the world to me to help get this team to Wembley.
“I thought we fought hard in this one. We always knew it was going to be a hard game – coming back to Villa Park with a 1-0 lead. But we did really well. Now we’re looking forward to the final.
“It’s going to be a tough game, of course. We have played Fulham twice this season – we’ve won one and lost one. It’s all to play for.
“It’s a one-off game, winner takes all. I look at our team and I believe we have the quality to go on and win it.”
Grealish’s sentiments have been echoed by team-mate Albert Adomah, who also believes they will win their promotion showdown and return to the Premier League following a twoyear exile from the top flight.
“There’ll be a lot of expectation but hopefully the best team will win – and I believe that will be us,” said the 30-year-old winger, who played in Middlesbrough’s play-off final defeat to Norwich in 2015.
“Fulham haven’t been in the Premier League for a long time but Aston Villa were only recently relegated. Hopefully, at the second time of asking, we can come out on top.
“It’ll be good – it’s two big teams. We finished fourth and they came third and it’ll be a tough game. They’re one of the form teams and missed out on the last day so maybe there’ll be a bit of disappointment.
“We knew we’d be in the play-offs throughout and hopefully we can give them a challenge.”
Lewis Grabban was denied by Randolph in a scrappy game of few clear chances while James Chester also went close for Villa.
Adomah added: “We knew we only had to draw to go through and it was a solid performance.
“Unfortunately we didn’t score but did well as a team and they put some pressure on us.
“Towards the end to-end.”
Boro failed to have a shot on target in the second leg, with Stewart Downing hitting the crossbar with three minutes left.
They only managed two efforts on target in the first leg and defender George Friend knows they cannot have any complaints after failing in their bid for an instant return to the Premier League.
“We’ve given it everything – you can’t question anyone’s work rate or desire – but we lacked that killer instinct,” he said. it was a bit end-