Former Aston Villa skipper Jack Grealish had to leave the field due to injury during the FA Cup match between Manchester City and Luton.
The England player has been battling injuries for much of the season, limiting him to only seven starts in the Premier League – mostly because of a groin issue.
Despite this, he was deemed fit enough to play against Luton on Tuesday night. Yet he had to leave the pitch eight minutes before half-time after doing some damage once more, clearly distressing him.
Roy Keane, Manchester United legend and Grealish’s former coach at Villa was understanding, saying it’s hard to see Jack suffering right now. He told ITV Sport: “You feel for Jack at this time in the season. I’ve worked with Jack at Villa, he definitely loves the game and it’s a setback for him and for City.”
Before this happened, Pep Guardiola, Manchester City’s boss, wanted Grealish to improve his form if he hopes to consistently be in the starting line-up. Guardiola acknowledged that Grealish had a knock-back trying to recover from his groin problem, but still believes he can lift his game standard.
“He started a little bit late [for form] but in the last month Jack is back in terms of many things, that’s why he played an important game in the Champions League in Copenhagen. Unfortunately he had a setback [the injury] in 10-15 minutes.”
“He played lots of minutes last season and this [season] less in the beginning it’s the way he has performed. That’s the difference. I said from day one: ‘We need him, he has a special quality for our team.’ It depends on him. Hopefully he can do a good last three months.”
“I cannot give three or four games for them to get their rhythm, they have to [find] the rhythm if playing 90 or 20 minutes. At a high level, the team doesn’t wait. “He is the same player, he has the same manager, and the way we play has not changed. It’s just the way he has performed. That’s the difference.””
