Garry Thompson adamant Aston Villa’s season is over if reports about Jack Grealish are true

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Jack Grealish has not played for Aston Villa since their 2-2 draw away at West Brom in December.

BBC pundit Garry Thompson believes Aston Villa will have to ‘start planning for next season’ if reports about Jack Grealish’s return from injury are true.

The Telegraph claims that Villa’s away clash at Stoke City on February 23 is the date penned in for his potential return from a shin injury.

If that is the case then the 23-year-old will potentially miss another further three Championship fixtures for his side, with Villa falling further behind the playoff pack – Villa play Sheffield United, Brentford and West Brom in the coming week.

Following the report that Grealish could return to action later on this month, former Villa striker Thompson explained why the club should now look towards next season.

“They are looking more and more like that [a one-man team],” Thompson told BBC Radio WM. “Jack’s not playing. There is a lack of creativity. McGinn’s trying.

“If Jack does come back when they say he is going to come back, he has got to hit the ground running and get results straight away.

“Say he gets another knock or feels his way in for two or three game, which is likely to happen, he has been out for nearly two months. I think it’s gone [promotion] this season. I think you have to start planning for next season.”

Since Grealish has been missing from the Villa side, they have won only two matches in the league, which has left them four points outside of the promotion places.

Conor Hourihane has moved in the more advanced positions in the middle of the park and he has been playing alongside the ever-energetic John McGinn.

The likes of Glenn Whelan and Birkir Bjarnason have deployed the number 6 role as Dean Smith’s side have lacked bite, in a creativity sense, since the absence of their key man in midfield.

Nonetheless, Villa will be hoping to close the gap on the top-six when they welcome third-placed Sheffield United to the Midlands on Friday night – a win for the away side will see them move into the automatic places.