Aston Villa boss Smith explains Grealish shift which inspired comeback against WBA

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Aston Villa won the first leg of their Championship play-off semi-final against West Bromwich Albion on Saturday 2-1 thanks to goals from Conor Hourihane and Tammy Abraham.

It was a tricky first half for the Villans, as their visitors sat in deep to frustrate them in a 5-4-1 formation without the ball and the job became more difficult when Glenn Whelan’s mistake allowed Dwight Gayle to open the scoring.

But it was much better in the second period, and according to the Sunday People, Total Football, page 4, 12/05, Smith credited moving Jack Grealish forward as being key to getting back in the game.

He said: “West Brom came with a gameplan to sit behind the ball and they capitalised on a mistake from us. That gave them something to hold onto. But we did better in the second half.

“Jack got on the ball – and that’s what we want from him. You have to give credit to West Brom, how they played him in the first half. He got on the ball and had to try and beat four or five players. In the second half, he had licence to go and find space that wasn’t there in the first half.  With the quality he’s got, he can go and create.”

Grealish has been the catalyst for Villa’s surge into the play-offs and it’s no surprise that he was the key to the turnaround that has given Smith’s side a vital boost ahead of the return leg.

You could see from early on that Grealish was going to get physical treatment, from the likes of Stefan Johansen, but he kept his head, kept patient and got his reward by swinging the course of the game his side’s way.

Smith will hope for more of the same on Tuesday night when they make the short trip to the Hawthorns to try and book a second straight play-off final place.