Aston Villa and West Bromwich Albion will by vying for a return to the Premier League.
Chris Brunt has admitted that Aston Villa’s Jack Grealish was ‘outstanding’ when he played against West Brom in December as the two teams prepare to meet once again in the play-off semi-finals.
Playmaker Grealish provided an assist during that Championship encounter at the Hawthorns as both teams had to settle for a 2-2 draw, with Jay Rodriquez scoring a stoppage-time equaliser with his hand.
After that encounter, Grealish was out of action for nearly three months because of an injury as Dean Smith’s side struggled without him in the side, including losing the reverse fixture to the Baggies at Villa Park.
But upon his return, Villa went on a 10-game winning run which fired them into the play-off places and Brunt offered his thoughts ahead of Saturday’s showdown.
“They have been on a great run since we beat them at Villa Park,” Brunt told Sky Sports. “Jack Grealish is a big part of that. We are going to have to prepare to deal with him. He’s a top, top player.
“In the home game [at the Hawthorns] on Friday night, he was outstanding. But it’s not just about Jack Grealish, they have other good players in there as well. Tammy Abraham has scored a lot of goals this season as well. They have got plenty of threats and it is up to us to deal with that and try to impose ourselves on the game.”
On the last day of the regular season, Smith rested played like Tammy Abraham, Tyrone Mings, Grealish, Anwar El Ghazi and John McGinn as Villa were beaten 2-1 by champions Norwich City.
But Albion’s caretaker manager Jimmy Shan opted to play a strong side as they fell to a defeat at Derby County, who secured the final playoff spot.
Now, the teams will battle it out for a place in England’s top-flight, with one of Villa, Albion, Leeds United or Derby County making a return to the Premier League.
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