Jack Grealish’s Aston Villa first team exile continues after boss Remi Garde confirmed he will remain with the under-21s for the time being.
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‘You have to know this is our job, you do it in a way that you are prepared to be 100 per cent focused.
‘I can’t imagine when you have opportunity to play in the Premier League – in a big club, big games – that you could be disturbed by this time of parties, even if it is Christmas, ‘ said Garde.
The midfielder will not play at Southampton on Saturday after being pictured in a nightclub following the 4-0 defeat at Everton last month.
Some reports, however, suggest that Grealish has been putting in extra work in hope of getting back in the first-team.
He refused to be drawn on whether Villa players will be allowed to enjoy a club party over the festive period.
He said: “Jack knows what he has to do and you can guess that he has to behave in the right way during that time”.
Garde added: “I know when he might return and he knows”.
“You can have Christmas with family and then be prepared to play games”.
“We have lots of games coming up and a tough job to do”.
“If you speak to any European footballer, they would like to be playing Boxing Day”. When he is fully committed he can be a good player. Koeman may change things up and I think Shane Long probably starts this game alongside Pelle, Tadic and Mane as Southampton look to get a much needy positive result.
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“The performance pleased me but we made too many mistakes to win”.
