Aston Villa star Jack Grealish: I played through the pain for weeks

The 23-year-old made a glorious return to action last weekend after three months on the sidelines with a shin injury, scoring a stunning volley in a 4-0 win over Derby.

It was the playmaker's first game since limping off in the 2-2 draw with the Baggies at The Hawthorns.

But he did not actually pick up the injury in that game, he sustained it against Swansea in October – Dean Smith's first game at the helm.

"Since Swansea I had it. Obviously, the manager comes in, and you get an injury after his first game... you don't really want to pull out," said Grealish.

"You want to keep impressing the manager and keep playing.

"I carried on playing. I must have played seven or eight games with it and the, in the end, the Middlesbrough game and the West Brom one, the pain was too much, really.

"I had a scan the morning after the West Brom game and got the results. Obviously, it weren't good news.

"The six weeks before that we beat Derby away, Middlesbrough away, we beat Blues at home.

"We had a lot of good wins and performances under our belt.

"After that, I was devastated, but I've just been doing everything I can to try to get back as quickly as possible."

Grealish is just delighted to be back out there playing as Villa hope to make a late play-off push.

He insists being out injured and spending the majority of your time doing rehab work in the gym can be a lonely process – no matter how much your team-mates try to keep you involved in all of the camaraderie.

"When you're injured, as much as everyone tries to make you feel part of it, you don't really (feel part of it) because you're not training or playing," added Grealish.

"You don't actually feel part of it if you know what I mean?

"I remember at the start the doctor was saying I could have days off over Christmas, but the manager wanted me to take part in team meetings about games.

"I've been taking part in most stuff, just not the training and the games."