Aston Villa

Steve Bruce to Jack Grealish: "Ability is not enough alone"

By Giuseppe Labellarte, Reporter | 08 May 2017

Aston Villa boss Steve Bruce wants Jack Grealish to work on his mentality and become more consistent as "ability is not enough alone".

Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce has told Jack Grealish that his mentality must improve because "ability is not enough alone".

The 21-year-old scored his fifth goal of the season against Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday, firing home a late equaliser in a 1-1 draw which denied the Seagulls the Championship title.

Grealish has been out of favour at Villa since a red card at Nottingham Forest in February, however, and has only started three of the 17 Championship matches since.

Bruce told the Birmingham Mail: "We know Jack can do that. We've got to see the whole package from Jack. He's got a big summer ahead and he's getting to an age now when we can't just talk about his talent. He's got to produce it week in and week out.

"We've been talking about Jack's development for the last three years. There's times when you cannot keep talking about development and potential. He's now played enough games and knows what it is. It's a mentality thing. He has to learn with it and grow with it.

"He's a local lad here. He's the local favourite but he has to grasp the situation and produce the real deal and that's the most important thing for Jack. We all know he has ability but ability is not enough alone."

Grealish has made a total of 79 appearances for Villa since breaking into the first team in 2014.