Aston Villa boss Steve Bruce fears lengthy absence for Jack Grealish
Villa boss Steve Bruce fears Jack Grealish may not play again this year following his freak pre-season injury.
The 21-year-old attacker remains in hospital, having undergone surgery after sustaining kidney damage during last Saturday’s friendly against Watford.
Grealish was involved in a collision with Hornets midfielder Tom Cleverley midway through the first-half at Villa Park.
It was initially thought the England under-21 international would miss between two to three months but Bruce admits that is the best case scenario.
Asked if Grealish could miss longer, he replied: “It could be. He's poorly at the minute. I went to see him in hospital yesterday.”
Villa start their Championship campaign against Hull on Saturday and Bruce admitted Grealish would have had a big part to play.
“My system in pre-season was geared around Grealish. How to get the best out of him. And he came back flying, which was good to see. He'd been away with England. So that's a bit of a disappointment for us. That's football.”
Bruce will also be without influential midfielder Mile Jedinak last season’s top scorer Jonathan Kodjia for the start of the campaign.
Saturday’s game with Hull will also come too soon for Albert Adomah (shin), though Bruce does expect Sam Johnstone to be available after the goalkeeper missed out against Watford.
