Jack can be the lad for England YOUNG SKIPPER DELIGHTS THREE LIONS BOSS SOUTHGATE

JACK GREALISH provided the watching Gareth Southgate with another reminder of his outrageous talent as he broke brave Brighton hearts.

The England chief paid a trip to Villa Park to check in on Tyrone Mings and witnessed Grealish giving a captain’s display.

A crazy first half saw Adam Webster open the scoring for the Seagulls and Aaron Mooy get sent off for fouling Grealish.

Then the Villa No.10 had his revenge, level ling seconds before the interval after Conor Hourihane had been denied by VAR.

And Grealish (right) eventually broke down battling Brighton four minutes into added time with a moment of magic as his silky skills set up Matt Targett to fire home.

Victory brought scenes of jubilation as Dean Smith celebrated his first anniversary as Villa boss in style.

They were 14th in the Championship when the boyhood Villa fan took his dream job last October. They are now above Manchester United in the top flight.

Smith said: “We’ve worked very hard to get to the Premier League and now we have a strong squad. “Jack was excellent, it was a captain’s display – he was integral to everything.

“I don’t think you could not have pleased as an England manager watching him.

“But Gareth has got a lot of good players to choose from. All Jack can do is knock on the door.”

This result was so harsh on Brighton, who were superb throughout. They deserved their lead on 21 minutes as Webster headed in from a Pascal Gross free-kick with Aaron Connolly getting a cheeky touch on the line.

But the game changed on

been 35 minutes when Mooy’s daft challenge on Grealish resulted in a second booking.

That was not the end of the firsthalf drama though.

Luckless Hourihane had already been foiled twice by Mat Ryan from free-kicks when he then became the third Villa player to be denied a goal by VAR this season.

Hourihane celebrated after firing home from John McGinn’s pass, but just as Villa fans were celebrating, they started cursing as technology spotted Wesley had fouled Ryan moments earlier.

Smith immediately shouted “embarrassing” from the touchline and was still fuming later.

He said: “VAR has got involved in a subjective decision so I must have missed that memo. VAR is taking the fun out of the game.”

But Grealish quickly stepped up and had Villa all square, starting and finishing a move, but he got fortunate with a scrambled finish from Frederic Guilbert’s pass.

Brighton looked good value for a point after a drab second half. But that man Grealish, well-marked for much of the game, took it by the scruff of the neck to set up Targett’s first Villa goal.

He will have hoped that Southgate stayed and did not leave early to beat the traffic.

Disappointed Brighton manager Graham Potter said: “Grealish was very good today. He popped up in lots of places and he makes things happen.

“With a player of his quality, you know something might happen.

“It’s painful for us – heartwrenching. Congratulations to Aston Villa but congratulations to my players too.

“I’m never one to criticise referees and I don’t want to add more pressure to them. But you will see worse red cards.”