RETURN OF THE JACK
Grealish back from injury after 3-month lay-off in a big lift for Villa & England
GREALISH took his first baby steps back to trying to grab a place in England’s Euros squad.
The Aston Villa playmaker came on for the last 18 minutes against Everton to end an agonising three-month lay-off with a troublesome shin injury.
He has plenty of ground to make up after looking an absolute certainty to be included in Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions contingent at the turn of the year.
Villa’s fit-again talisman looked to have won over not only the England boss but convinced the entire nation as to just why he should be in the squad.
But three months is a long time out at such a crucial time and with a glut of midfield talent jostling for places, Grealish’s inclusion has come into question more with each day he has been off the scene.
It was always asking a lot of him to come on last night and light up this dull game but heaven knows it needed something. Yet seeing him back out there is enough to have Villa fans smiling again.
The sides cancelled out each other. Villa had nothing to play for and although that was not the case for Everton, who still have hopes of European football next season, it was not evident from their lacklustre performance.
The visitors had a mathematical chance of finishing fourth and qualifying for the Champions League before this stalemate, although the Europa League remains a possibility.
Just the sight of Grealish juggling a ball out on the pitch at half-time was enough to give some small hope that the second half might prove a significant upgrade on a pretty ordinary opening 45 minutes.
The first half had almost nothing to commend and it was little surprise there were no goals, with precious few moments to suggest the deadlock would be broken.
Perhaps the teams knew a little too much about each other having met only 12 days previously, Villa emerging 2-1 winners.
It was Villa who came closest when Douglas Luiz dropped his shoulder to create a bit of space before clipping a cross towards the near post where Tyrone Mings was lurking six yards out. The defender managed to connect with a diving header but could not get the required angle and sent his effort wide of the post.
The second half was an improvement, although that was hardly difficult, and the introduction of Andre Gomes with just over 20 minutes left helped.
In the end Villa keeper Emi Martinez took the spotlight, doing well to push around Ben Godfrey’s far-post volley and then coming to the rescue with two minutes to play by keeping out Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s header.