The Aston Villa attacker has been in fine form since returning from a kidney injury.
Andreas Weimann of Derby County fouls Jack Grealish of Aston Villa
Right now Aston Villa are undoubtedly the form team in the Championship. They have won their last six games in the league and are now pushing Derby County hard for a place in the automatic promotion places.
There have been plenty of reasons behind the good form. Birkir Bjarnason finally finding his form at Villa Park is a massive part of that, as is the return to form and fitness of Jack Grealish.
The one time posterboy for English football’s hopes fell away slightly as Villa were relegated to the Championship. Injury problems have not helped, with Grealish missing the start of the new campaign after a kidney operation in the summer. He returned toward the end of November, but made his first start since the issue in mid-December.
A stat regarding his form since was posted on Twitter yesterday. Since that game, Grealish is the Championship’s most fouled player:
What it shows is how tricky Grealish is as a player. His touch and dribbling poise are excellent assets, often looking like a young Joe Cole when he gets into full flow.
It is also indicative of Grealish’s devilish side. He is not afraid to go down easily. Such a trait should perhaps not be praised but it is not necessarily diving, just gamesmanship.
Jack Grealish of Aston Villa (L) is challenged by Aden Flint
Aston Villa fans won’t care right now anyway, they are too busy celebrating.
This weekend they face Birmingham City in the second city derby and Grealish can definitely expect to be treated pretty harshly in that fixture.
As long as he can stay fit in the process, Grealish will keep drawing those fouls and helping Villa in their currently unstoppable promotion push.
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