The Burnley striker played at Villa in the 2000s, while Hendrie made close to 300 appearances for the West Midlanders.
Peter Crouch has piled praise on Aston Villa winger Jack Grealish, comparing him to his ex-teammate who is also one of the club’s best-known stars of recent years.
The Burnley ace, who had a stint at Villa Park between 2002 and 2004, believes that Grealish’s winning goal against bitter rivals Birmingham City, despite the unpleasant incident that unfolded earlier in the game, has made him into a bona fide club legend.
Grealish was attacked early on during Sunday’s Championship game at St Andrew’s by a pitch-invading Blues fan but went on to score the winner in the 67th minute, weaving into the opposition box and slotting into the corner of the net to complete a double over their Second City rivals.
In the Daily Mail, Crouch spoke out about the incident involving Grealish, making his impact on the game all the more heroic, and compared him to Lee Hendrie, his ex-teammate who came through the ranks at Villa in the 1990s and made 282 appearances for the club (Transfermarkt).
“In the match itself, Grealish came up with the best answer of all,” wrote Crouch. “He reminded me of Lee Hendrie, in that he was someone always involved in big moments. To score the winning goal after what he went through has made him an Aston Villa legend.”
Grealish has made a huge difference since his return from injury – during his stint on the sidelines, Villa won just two of 13 games, but with the 23-year-old back in their ranks, they’ve won three on the trot – 4-0 over Derby County, 1-0 against Birmingham, and 3-1 at Nottingham Forest.
The result at the City Ground in midweek saw Dean Smith’s leapfrog Martin O’Neill’s Reds into eighth place in the Championship, two points behind sixth-placed Derby, and with nine games to go, the playoffs are once again very much on the agenda ahead of Saturday’s home game with Middlesbrough.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
