Dean Smith: Jack Grealish isn't Aston Villa's only weapon

Grealish is poised to skipper his boyhood club when they take on rivals Albion in Saturday’s semi-final first leg at Villa Park.

The 23-year-old, who returned from a near three-month injury lay-off in early March, was key to a resurgence which saw Villa reel off a club record 10 straight wins to make the play-offs.

But while Smith is aware many view Grealish as crucial to his team’s hopes, he insists Villa are far from a one-man band.

“Of course I am aware of what people think,” said the boss. “We didn’t win enough games when Jack wasn’t playing.

“Then when he came back we started winning straight away. Jack is the first one to remind me about that, too!

“But he’s also the first to know he can’t do the things he does without the team around him.

“The likes of Mings, McGinn, Tuanzebe, a renaissance of Whelan, so to speak, Hourihane’s delivery, El Ghazi... I could go through them all.

“There’s never been talk from us inside that we’re a one-man team. Tammy Abraham gets injured and Jonathan Kodjia comes in and scored three goals in four games. There’s a good group of players here.”

Grealish was part of the Villa team which fell at the final hurdle last season, despite a fine individual performance in the final defeat to Fulham.

Smith believes he is now desperate to go one better.

“Jack really looking forward to it,” he said. “We had a chat about it on Thursday and he can’t wait for the games.

“He sadly lost his grandmother recently and was at the funeral in midweek.

“People said he was very relaxed and he admitted he was. It’s just another part of his career moving forward.

“He would have felt how bad it felt to lose in the final but he also wants to go one better this year. He also knows West Brom is a tough game.”