Aston Villa have confirmed that Jack Grealish will step up his return to fitness this evening, featuring in an under-23 fixture against Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Grealish is yet to feature for Villa’s first-team in the Sky Bet Championship this season, having picked up a freak kidney injury late in pre-season.

Initial fears were that Grealish might not feature again in 2017, but the 22-year-old has taken a huge stride in his recovery in recent weeks, returning to full training over the international break.

The midfielder is now edging closer to a first-team return, and will feature for Villa’s under-23s, alongside James Bree, this evening against Wolves.

Whilst Grealish is preparing to face Wolves’ under-23s, Steve Bruce will be reflecting on the first-team defeat Villa suffered against the Molineux outfit on Saturday evening.

Goals from Diogo Jota and Leo Bonatini ended Villa’s unbeaten run on Saturday, as Wolves marched to the top of the Sky Bet Championship table with a 2-0 victory.

Bruce’s side remained seventh in the Championship table, and despite that defeat, still trail sixth placed, Leeds United, by just a single point.

Villa face Fulham on Saturday, before taking an eight-day break from Championship football ahead of the Second City derby with Birmingham City on October 29^th.

The Verdict

This is huge news for Aston Villa and Steve Bruce, with Grealish clearly taking massive steps in his quest to return to first-team action.

Grealish is a huge talent, and he will undoubtedly improve Villa’s squad when he returns to first-team action.

Saturday’s defeat highlighted that Villa still have work to do, and their performance against Wolves showed Bruce’s side lack creativity without Grealish.

Aston Villa fans… Let us know your thoughts!