Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
UNION JACK
Grealish banging on England door, says Daley
JACK GREALISH is not just knocking on the England door – the Aston Villa skipper is virtually kicking it down.
That’s the view of formerThree Lions and Villa winger Tony Daley (right) after Grealish was conspicuous by his absence in Gareth Southgate’s latest national squad.
But, while convinced the Villains silky playmaker is already good enough to be representing his country, Daley appreciates why he is yet to receive a first call-up.
After all, competition on the England flanks could scarcely be tougher right now – with Raheem Sterling (right), Callum Hudson-Odoi, Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford all ahead of him in the pecking order.
Which is why Daley, capped seven times by England in the early ’90s, reckons Grealish must keep on delivering for Dean Smith’s men every week – and bide his time when it comes to shining on the world stage.
Ahead of Villa’s derby trip to Wolves today, Daley, who played for both clubs, declared: “Jack has come into the Premier League and hit the ground flying.
“He’s banging on the England door. Absolutely.
“You can see by the way he carries the ball he can cope at the top level. But more important, for me, is seeing his team-mates always looking to give him the ball – even when there’s loads of men around him.
“That’s a sign of a very good player.
“But unfortunately for Jack – and fortunately for England – they are blessed with players of real quality in his position. So that’s the level Jack has to be consistently at to break into the squad. But it’s only a matter of time before he’s in it.
“He just has to be a patient for his window of opportunity to come – either through injury to someone or his own brilliant form.”
As has been the case most of the season, Villa boss Smith will deploy Grealish on the wing against Nuno Espirito Santo’s Wolves.
Daley, who commentates for Villa’s official online matchday service, cannot wait to see how the Midlands rivals’ second meeting in a fortnight unravels.
Villa beat Wolves 2-1 at home in the Carabao Cup last month – the Black Country outfit’s only defeat in 11 games in all competitions.
Daley, however, expects the Premier League showdown to be a very different scrap as the hosts will be at full-strength.
“There’s been a lot of talk about how much money Wolves spent to get to the top flight but, as we’ve seen with others, that doesn’t guarantee anything,” said Daley, who after nine years and 233 league games for Villa had four injury-hit seasons with Wolves from 1994-98.
“They excelled last year but it’s been more difficult this time because of the Europa League and having to manage their squad. We saw that in the Carabao Cup. In the end Nuno had to roll the dice and put the youngsters in. That’s the price of success.
“But, invariably, his side play and brilliant counter-attacking football with Dean’s positive style at Villa, should mean an exciting, free-flowing game.”