Jack Grealish has suffered a setback in his injury recovery and will be absent for another few weeks , Aston Villa boss Dean Smith has confirmed.
Attacking midfielder Grealish has missed Villa s last seven matches due to a shin complaint, with Smith s side winning only two of those games.
The Villa captain will now sit out the clash with Liverpool at Anfield this weekend and is likely to remain a doubt for when they next play, against Manchester City on April 21.
Myself and Jack were quite optimistic to get him back a bit sooner than he probably should and he s had a setback that will probably put him back a couple of weeks, Smith said.
He was really good in training, but he couldn t tolerate the loading. It s a loading injury and we have to de-load him over the next few weeks and get him back from there.
We know it s not a long-term injury and he will be back. We all, Jack included, probably pushed him back a little bit too quickly. We wanted him to get back and he had a little setback.
— Jack Grealish (@JackGrealish)
Only three players have more Premier League assists than Grealish s 10 this term, while he ranks second behind Bruno Fernandes for chances created (75) and joint-third for Opta-defined big chances (14).
Grealish s injury meant he missed out on England selection for the recent World Cup qualifiers, but Smith is optimistic the absence will not damage his player s chances of making Gareth Southgate s squad for the rescheduled Euro 2020.
He s proved himself already, but the one thing for certain is he will be back before the end of the season, and then Gareth [Southgate] has to make a decision whether he thinks he s right for that, Smith said.
