Aston Villa boss Dean Smith backs "driven" Jack Grealish to be a Premier League success
Dean Smith claims Jack Grealish’s determination to succeed will ensure Villa’s skipper becomes a hit in the Premier League.
Grealish was due to lead Villa against Bournemouth today in the club’s first home match since winning promotion back to the top flight.
The 23-year-old often received attention for his off-field antics in the past and there is greater scrutiny on his performances than any other player at the club.
But Smith insists Grealish is these much more about hard work than haircuts.
The boss said: “The persona that’s around Jack I don’t really pay much attention to.
“It’s what he does when he comes into this training ground and when leaves this training ground and I know for a fact how professional and how driven this lad is now.
“I saw it for myself on Tuesday when I came to watch the Villa Ladies training at 8pm and he was still in the gym.
“We’d trained at Villa Park in the morning and he’d gone back home, had a sleep and then felt he needed to come in and do his usual gym session.
“That just shows me how he has matured and how driven he is to become a top performer this season.”
Smith believes Grealish’s physical development over the past year will further help him get to grips with the demands of the Premier League.
“I felt he looked like a Premier League player last year playing in the Championship,” said the boss.
“You just have to look at his legs now. He looks like an athlete.
“He has got power in calves, he has power in his glutes and he has power in his thighs. I think he has got quicker as a player and he looks at home.”
Grealish experienced as mixed afternoon as Villa were beaten 3-1 at Tottenham last weekend and was guilty of giving the ball away in the build-up to the home side’s second goal.
Smith said: “He was as gutted as anybody that he got robbed for the second goal.
“But it didn’t stop him getting on ball. There were a number of times when he got on the ball in our penalty box and carried the ball out - unfortunately on one of them he got caught, we got punished and they scored.
“I thought last Saturday defensively, he intercepted so many balls. We normally talk about Jack offensively and in the opposition’s third but he knew he had to do a job for his teammates too with the amount of possession Tottenham had.”
