Jack Grealish has revealed he needed life-saving surgery after the freak injury that kept the midfielder out for the first few months of the season.

The 22-year old went in for a tackle in a friendly game against Watford and took a kick to the kidney that caused it to bleed internally.

He was then rushed to hospital for an operation and Grealish told the Mirror that the surgeon made it clear just how severe this was.

"He looked me in the eye and said, ‘Jack, you could die’. My reply was, ‘What?’ I was genuinely scared. I was expecting to be back inside a week, but it was three or four months."

Thankfully, Grealish recovered in time and thinks that setback was a pivotal moment in his career.

"I’m a big believer that ­everything happens for a reason. I came back from that injury a different person. I thought about how everything could be taken away from you in such a short space of time. I worked so hard to come back because I missed football. I ­wanted to be the best I could be."

The Verdict

The injury was a real unfortunate moment for Villa and Grealish and it was clearly very serious that people maybe didn't realise.

Grealish deserves huge credit for how he used this as a motivation and he has come back a much better player.

He will be key in the play-off final this weekend and could be the man to take Villa back to the Premier League.

Thoughts, Villa fans? Let us know in the comments below.