Manchester City winger Jack Grealish is looking to kick on this season after re-establishing himself for the Blues and for England.
Jack Grealish could miss England’s Nations League fixture with Greece on Thursday after picking up an injury problem while with the Three Lions.
Grealish has enjoyed a solid start to the season after spending the summer off without going to Euro 2024. He saw the start of his campaign disrupted by a minor setback, missing the first two games of the season, but has returned to play a part in every game since for City and England.
The winger even started at Newcastle recently, less than 24 hours after his partner Sasha Attwood gave birth to their first child, but now looks set to miss England’s first fixture this week as a precaution after missing training on Wednesday.
Interim England boss Lee Carsley described Grealish’s issue as a ‘slight knock’ before adding: “We’ll assess Jack later. Our attitude would be we wouldn’t gamble with any of the players.
“It’s important we put them first rather than ourselves. They will be OK in a couple of days, so we are not going to take any gambles with them.”
That stance will be appreciated by Pep Guardiola, who hates for his players to pick up injuries on international duty – especially for non-competitive games. Guardiola does encourage players to take the opportunity to represent their countries when fit, but also backed Kevin De Bruyne’s decision to step back from the final two Belgium squads of the year to prioritise his long-term fitness.
England host Greece and then Finland this week, before Grealish will return to City for a favourable run of fixtures starting at Wolves next weekend. He is in competition for a left-wing spot from Phil Foden, Jeremy Doku and Savinho at the Etihad.
