Aston Villa manager Dean Smith has confirmed that Jack Grealish will definitely miss this weekend's trip to Stoke City. 

There had been strong rumours that the exciting midfielder would make his return to the first-team this weekend but according to a report on the club's official Twitter account, that will not be the case.

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Grealish has been missing since the club's 2-2 draw with West Bromwich Albion back in December with a shinbone injury and has made just 21 appearances all season.

Definitely joining him on the sidelines will be Axel Tuanzebe, James Chester and Henri Lansbury whilst Tom Carroll is back in training but remains a doubt.

Goalkeeper Lovre Kalinic is 50/50 after being withdrawn against West Brom last weekend with a concussion.

Smith's side currently sit in tenth place with 33 matches played in what has been a bitterly disappointing season, nine points outside the play-offs with just one win in their last nine matches.

However, they are still seven places and four points better off than Stoke, so they will at least know that their opponents will be more disappointed than they are with the current campaign.

The verdict 

Not having Grealish back for the contest is a big blow.

Villa fans have been desperate to see him return for a while now, having seen how much poorer they are without him on the pitch, so having the date pushed back again will be gutting.

It will be a big boost for Stoke, however, and with Chester also missing they will smell blood.