Jack Grealish has endured a disappointing start to the season for Aston Villa, but the club's supporters will have been pleased to see their talisman get off the mark at the weekend.

Villa beat Bolton Wanderers 2-0 on Friday evening with Grealish opening the scoring after just four minutes.

The goal was his first of the season, and he will be keen to build on that after a poor start the campaign when his side travel to face Frank Lampard's Derby County at the weekend.

The 23-year-old was full of praise for Dean Smith and revealed that the new manager's style of play has suited him since he arrived at the club.

In an interview with Birmingham Live, Grealish stated: "It suits me a lot; it suits a lot of the players to be fair.

"He has got two great coaches in JT (John Terry) and Richard (O’Kelly), I think all the boys are enjoying at the moment."

Grealish admitted that the hard work that Smith and his backroom staff are putting into the team is starting to pay off.

And, Villa will be keen to put together a good run of form with the crucial festive period approaching.

"I am loving it," Grealish said. "It’s nice for me as well because he is a Villa fan, all of his family are Villa fans the same as I am really.

"We get on well, I think you could see the way we played, we are doing certain stuff on the training pitch that is all paying off."

Smith faces a tough task if he is to pick up his first away points as manager of Aston Villa when they meet a Derby side that will be full of confidence after a recent good run of form against their promotion rivals.

The Verdict 

Villa fans will have been relieved to see Grealish score his first goal of the season at the weekend and I'm sure we'll see him kick-on now for the rest of the season.

If Villa are to mount a serious promotion challenge this year, they will need Grealish to rediscover his best form.

If he can do that quickly then we are likely to see Smith's side challenging for a play-off place come May.

Thoughts? Let us know! 

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