Dean Smith reacts to Jack Grealish’s Aston Villa performance

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Aston Villa boss Dean Smith was impressed by his captain Jack Grealish following his performance on Monday night.

The 24-year-old returned from an injury problem to help Villa record a 2-0 home victory against Newcastle United.

Conor Hourihane and Anwar El Ghazi scored first-half goals to seal the Midlands club three points, which means they have claimed up to 15th in the Premier League table.

Grealish made quite the impact on his comeback, as the two goals came from set-pieces that he won for his team.

He was a constant attacking threat on the left flank with the way he ghosted in-field and saw plenty of possession.

Smith claimed after the contest that the playmaker will be disappointed not to get on the scoresheet despite three vital points.

“He’s a constant threat and he moves around the pitch really well into positions where people don’t want to come and tackle him,” Smith said, as quoted by the club’s official website.

“The opposition get frustrated and two free-kicks against him end up with two goals for us. Knowing Jack, he’ll be disappointed he hasn’t got on the scoresheet himself.”

TBR’s View:

Grealish’s return to the Villa team gave them an obvious boost and there is no doubt he holds the key in their fight against relegation.

The Englishman now has four goals and five assists in just 13 games across all competitions this campaign.

He is an attacking midfielder that prefers to be in a central role, but is showing he can fill a job in a wide position and having him further up the pitch to link up play is useful.

Grealish does need to become a more regular goalscorer if he wants to force his way into the plans of England boss Gareth Southgate, but there is no doubting he’s a top talent.