Sherwood urges Grealish not to sulk

TIM SHERWOOD insists Jack Grealish should not lose one minute’s sleep over his latest England snub. The Aston Villa skipper was widely expected to be included in the squad picked by Gareth Southgate for next month’s Nations League ties. But Sherwood, who gave the 24-year-old his first Premier ENGLAND: Villa star must bide his time for a call-up League start when he was Villa boss, says the mercurial midfielder just needs to keep his head down and wait.

He watched Grealish up close during his eight months in charge and says he is the nearest thing to Paul Gascoigne he has seen.

And Sherwood knows the heartache of waiting for a Three Lions call – he was 30 when he finally made his debut despite captaining Blackburn to the Premier League title in 1995 and being drafted into the national squad countless times.

Sherwood said: “Gareth can’t pick everyone. He says Jack’s unfortunate because of the likes of Mason Greenwood, Marcus Rashford and Raheem Sterling.

“But he’s more in the bracket of Phil Foden and Mason Mount. They’re the two he should be being compared with.

“Jack just needs to stick with it. He is the nearest thing to Gazza I’ve seen. Gazza is the most difficult opponent I ever played against. Jack has that same outstanding ability and audacity with the ball.”

Grealish represented the Republic of Ireland up to Under-21 level but then elected to switch his allegiance to England, and former Tottenham and Norwich midfielder Sherwood says he should not consider another U-turn.

He added: “If I was Jack I wouldn’t be thinking of switching back to Ireland. He’s made his mind up and he just has to be patient. I know how hard that can

be. I won the title with Blackburn. I was in incredible form and thought I was one of the best players around.

“Yet, I must have been called up 28 times and never got picked until I moved to Tottenham.

“It’s not ideal but all Jack can do is get on with it and not sulk and I don’t think he’ll do that. His chance will come.

“It might come through an injury crisis or whatever but once Gareth sees how good he is, how he dribbles and draws players in with his pace, he’ll be up and running.

“When international teams sit back, you need players who have that guile and that key to the door.

“Jack has to just get his nut down and get all this not being picked stuff out of his head.

“He is not in the squad because he is not good enough. Anyone who thinks that is talking nonsense.”

AUDACIOUS: Grealish is like Gazza, says Sherwood