Jack’s now pumped up for Prem...

VILLA captain Jack Grealish admits he was too skinny for the Premier League and has bulked up for another crack at the big time.

The 23-year-old talisman revealed how he once thought he “could just let my feet do the talking”, but admits he was wrong.

“I’ve developed so much,” he said. “Even just looking at myself, looking at pictures from three years ago, I was so much skinnier. I’ve spent more time in the gym, I’ve tried to get fitter and stronger. I’ve known all my life that everything I do with the ball is good.

“I can trust my ability but I needed to work on stuff like my strength, like stuff off the ball and I feel like I’ve done that now and I feel like this is the perfect time to come back in the Premier League and show people what I can do.

“When I first broke on to the scene I thought I could do everything without doing the stuff behind the scenes. I felt like, ‘Nah, I’ll be all right, I’ll just let my feet do the talking’, but that isn’t the case.

“I’ve done stuff over the last few years with Oli Stevenson, the fitness coach, trying to make myself the best professional as possible. The manager has probably seen that and that’s why he gave me the captain’s armband.”

Grealish admits Villa aren’t back in the Premier League just to make up the numbers.

He is hoping for a successful season and has pinpointed Wolves as an act to follow.

“(The club has) changed massively,” he added. “The manager, chief exec and stuff, new owners, the squad is completely different. It’s changed for the good, and hopefully we can have a good season.

“I had a chat with the manager in pre-season and he completely agreed with me. I said, ‘I don’t want to come in the Premier League just to survive relegation, I don’t want to come 17th, 16th, I want to come in and to finish as high as possible’.”