Jack’s OK thanks to JT
GREALISH CREDITS SKIPPER FOR RETURN TO HIS BRILLIANT BEST
JACK GREALISH is firmly back on track to fulfilling his huge potential – with the help of John Terry.
Grealish scooped his latest televised man-of-the-match award for fourth-placed Villa with a brilliant late volleyed winner against Cardiff.
The gifted midfielder, 22, returns to action tonight at home to Leeds, bidding to excite another armchair TV audience in the form of his life.
That is saying something given he famously lit up Wembley as a teenager against Liverpool in Villa’s shock 2-1 FA Cup semi-final triumph in 2015.
But since then off-the-field scrapes, relegation, loss of form and injuries have dogged the youngster from Solihull at his boyhood club.
The nadir saw Grealish photographed passed out drunk on a Tenerife street on holiday next to cigarette packets three years ago.
But the biggest kick he gets now is a health kick in the gym and pool after training with 37-year-old former England and Chelsea skipper Terry (below), who arrived at Villa in July.
Grealish said: “Me and him are always in the training ground, chatting and doing whatever.
“I do get on so well with JT. Everyone knows how much of a good player he has been and what he has done in the game.
“When he first signed, I had to pinch myself. He is so professional in everything he does and that rubs off on us young players.
“I will be thinking, ‘Do I need to be doing that?’, when he is already doing it.
“Things like ice baths, massages and not going home after training straight away.
“He is always the last person there, eating properly and doing everything right.”
It has not been easy for Grealish, who missed the first three months of the season after damaging a kidney in Villa’s final pre-season game.
He spent 10 days in hospital with plenty of time to reflect but Villa boss Steve Bruce was a regular visitor.
He added: “I am in probably the best form of my life – and the manager has also helped me massively.
“Under certain other managers I would have got dropped straight away for not having one of my best games.
“This manager now has a trust in me that I can produce something. In some games I wasn’t at my best but he stuck with me.
“He is always showing me stats of Roberto Firmino and Kevin De Bruyne, and where they are.
“He feels if they can do it, why can’t I? But most of the time Liverpool and Man City have got the ball!”
Grealish is also maturing and learning how better to deal with the expectations that accompanied his stunning Wembley breakthrough. He said: “When I played that day in the semi-final, everyone was looking at Christian Benteke, Fabian Delph and all the Liverpool players. It was like a normal game for me with no bother and I wasn’t fazed by it.
“When people start talking it gets a bit tougher. But all the good players in the Premier League are the best because they can deal with that pressure.”
Leeds youngster Paudie O’Connor is a wanted man after just two appearances.
Defender O’Connor, 20, only joined Leeds last year from Limerick after they won the Irish first division title.
He has risen from the Elland Road Under-23s to make his debut against Sunderland this month and kept his place.
O’Connor is in line to tackle Villa before Leeds offer him a significant pay rise in the face of interest from rival clubs.
PROBABLE TEAMS
VILLA: Johnstone, Elmohamady, Chester, Jedinak, Bree, Snodgrass, Whelan, Hourihane, Adomah, Grealish, Hogan LEEDS: Peacock-Farrell, Diaz, O’Connor, Pearce, Dallas, Anita, Hernandez, Phillips, Vieira, Roofe Grot