Jack Grealish ready to lead Aston Villa on Premier League charge

The 23-year-old reckons his season is now well and truly up and running after netting twice in his last three games, including a dream goal in Sunday’s 4-2 win over rivals Blues.

Grealish signed a new five-year deal with Villa back in September, but admits he found the early weeks of the campaign tough, after a summer in which he was strongly linked with a move to Tottenham.

Now he claims to have only one target in mind as Villa, who have now won three on the spin under new boss Dean Smith, look to further establish their promotion credentials.

“If you look at our team, look at our manager and everything, the ground and the facilities, I think we belong in the Premier League,” said Grealish.

“Who knows what can happen now? All we need to do is keep on performing, keep on winning and be in around it come Christmas time, and then have a good strong second half to the season.

“Where I want to be is back in the Premier League with this club.”

Grealish’s exit looked inevitable before the arrival in July of new majority shareholders Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens ended Villa’s financial crisis, brought on by the club’s failure to win promotion last term.

“The start of the season was tough for me,” continued Grealish. “I had such a tough summer when I did not know where I was going to be.

“People might think ‘it’s just football’ but it does play with your head and it took me a little time to get over that.

“But this is my club, this is what I have dreamed of, ever since I was a kid.

“I have always wanted to play for Aston Villa so I am not going to sit there and think ‘I could have been there’ or whatever. The grass isn’t always greener.”

Sunday’s win moved Villa up to eighth, four points outside the top six. They have further chances to close the gap on teams above them when they host seventh-placed Nottingham Forest tomorrow, before travelling to second-placed Middlesbrough on Saturday.

“I think in this league you don’t get any easy games,” said Grealish. “People might look at our fixtures and yes, they look tough. But even if you go to teams at the bottom of the table they are still tough games.

“Last season we went on a run of seven straight wins. Who knows? We have won three in a row now so hopefully we can keep that up.”

He continued: “It’s such a crazy league, the Championship. People used to say that to me and when you are in the Premier League, you don’t really take notice.

“It’s a good league, it’s tough and I like it. But the Premier League is where I want to be, with Villa.”