Aston Villa's talisman, Jack Grealish is seemingly edging-closer to a return from injury, with the midfielder stepping up his recovery efforts. 

Grealish posted a picture in his Instagram story, showing the 23-year-old doing some late night work in the gym on Thursday evening.

The creative midfielder has been out of action since picking up a shin injury in a draw with local rivals, West Brom in early December.

At the time, Dean Smith's side would have fancied their chances of breaking into the play-off positions, but since Grealish has been sidelined, Villa's top six ambitions have been fading away.

Dean Smith's side are currently sat 10th in the Championship table, and are nine points adrift of the top six, which will be a concern for supporters.

The Villa boss revealed in a pre-match press conference that Grealish isn't expected to return to the first-team picture for their game against Stoke City this weekend.

Villa will be hoping that Grealish can return to action as soon as possible, so that he can help aid his side's late play-off charge with the season reaching it's conclusion.

The Verdict: 

This is an encouraging update.

Many Villa supporters would have been keen to see Grealish return from injury this weekend against Stoke, but they won't want him to be rushed back.

He's a crucial player for Dean Smith's side and they need him back at the earliest of opportunities.