Captain fantastic Jack Grealish hoping to lead Aston Villa back to the Premier League

Villa have won all seven games since Grealish was handed the armband upon his return from a three-month injury lay-off, a run which has propelled them from mid-table to within sight of securing a play-off spot.

The 23-year-old bagged his third goal since his comeback with the winner in Wednesday’s remarkable 2-1 victory at Rotherham, when Dean Smith’s men came from behind to claim another three points despite playing most of the match with 10 men, after Tyrone Mings was sent off for two bookable offences in the first half.

Now back up to fifth in the table, Villa host a Bristol City side who sit one spot and two points below them, knowing another win would be another big step closer to sealing a top-six finish. It would also see them record eight straight league wins for the first time since April 1975, when they won promotion back to the top flight under Ron Saunders.

Grealish, a boyhood Villa fan, is relishing leading the charge. He said: “I love it. I thrive off it. It can’t get much better can it really? Captain of my club.

“I have wanted to do it for some time. Steve Bruce said a few times last year I might be captain but James Chester played every single game.

“I am loving it at the moment, as are all the boys. If I could captain this club to promotion it would mean the world to me.”

Though much of the focus has fallen on Grealish’s impact since his return, Villa’s resurgence has been far from a one-man show.

Grealish himself makes that very point, lauding in particular the influence of substitutes Mile Jedinak and Jonathan Kodjia in helping engineer Wednesday night’s turnaround.

The team spirit which exists with Villa right now was demonstrated by the raucous post-match celebrations which could be heard coming from the away dressing room at the New York Stadium.

Grealish said: “For anyone to see us in the dressing room would have been a joy. It is so tight-knit in there. We are coming into training every day with smiles on our faces. The togetherness is unbelievable.

“You can see from the likes of Tyrone coming on the pitch at the end. You can just see it. Long may it continue and long may these wins continue.”

Grealish insists the pain of last season, when Villa came so close to promotion only to miss out to Fulham in the play-off final, is not being used as a motivating factor.

“I try not to think about that,” he said. “I think that is when nerves can kick in because you think: ‘I have got to win’. I try and forget that.

“It is a completely different team to the one we were playing in last year. A completely different manager and backroom staff.

“We will just have to see, keep playing and hopefully we can get there again and this time get promoted.

“From now until the end of the season they are all big games. Bristol City are obviously on a roll and we know it is going to be tough.

“But we are back at Villa Park. It gives us that extra buzz. All the boys know it is sold out and we have great support. I’m looking forward to it.”