Aston Villa manager Dean Smith confirmed that skipper Jack Grealish has suffered an injury setback and will not play against Liverpool this weekend.
The England international midfielder is now set to miss the eighth consecutive Premier League game, and the Villans will have to find a way to get a result without him.
Grealish returned to training this week, but things did not go as planned, and he could now miss a further three games.
The Villa star continues to battle a shin problem and is now likely to return to action next month, with the trip to Everton earmarked as for his comeback.
Grealish is gutted to be unavailable to help his side at a time when they need him the most, and he has taken to social media to break his silence on the latest setback.
Missing it so bad! Doing everything to be back fitter and stronger than ever 💪🏻⚽️ pic.twitter.com/1rGU01Mk93
— Jack Grealish (@JackGrealish) April 9, 2021
Grealish was expected to return to action last weekend, having rested all through the international break. However, he felt discomfort in his shin again, and Villa’s medical team have advised him to spend the next three weeks on the sidelines to recover fully.
He is now set to miss the games against Manchester City and West Bromwich Albion later this month and will hope to hit the ground running when he returns.
Villa have struggled in Grealish’s absence, winning just twice in seven league games.
That has dealt a huge blow to their European hopes, and Smith will hope to have him around for the last six games of the campaign.
Aston Villa are currently ninth in the league table with nine games to go. They face Everton twice, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea in a very tricky run of fixtures in the coming weeks.
In other news, here is how Villa could line-up against Liverpool.
