Jack Grealish has been told to dedicate the international break to recapturing his peak fitness ready for the run-in after a season of injuries hampering his performances in training.
The Manchester City midfielder surprisingly made himself available for Saturday’s FA Cup quarter-final as Pep Guardiola revealed that he can call upon the 28-year-old when Newcastle United visit the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
Grealish has suffered three separate injuries this campaign and started just two of the last 13 matches, dating back to early January. He suffered injuries in the first halves of both.
There was an admission that a rushed return was contributing factor to his latest setback, in the last round at Luton Town three weeks ago.
City have given him time to make sure the groin injury fully heals and Gareth Southgate has opted against selecting him for friendlies against Brazil and Belgium before selecting his European Championship squad.
Jack Grealish has been told to dedicate the international break to getting back to full fitness
Grealish has suffered three separate injuries this term and started just two of the last 13 games
‘There are two weeks where he will work hard and clever as possible to be ready when we come back,’ Guardiola said.
‘Tomorrow maybe we’ll need him and then especially (use) these two weeks to work well and come back. Then we can have the Jack that unfortunately this season we had few, few times. And he can help us.’
Grealish struggled to force a way into the team ahead of Jeremy Doku after coming back from a severe dead leg. Guardiola believes that the knocks have had an impact on his displays.
‘You have to have consistency in the training, consistency in the game time, no injuries, then after you get the best,’ the Catalan added.
‘When you have one, two, three weeks injured you don’t train the best in some moments and when that happens it’s more difficult. He knows it perfectly.’
The Man City star surprisingly made himself available for Saturday’s FA Cup quarter-final
Grealish was an integral part of City’s run to last year’s Treble but has failed to hit the same heights in his 20 starts in all competitions.
Guardiola said: ‘He has to be fit and ready because the quality to keep the ball, extra passes, make the team tighter and closer between each other, defensively and offensively, (he) is really, really, good.’
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