From Jack Gaughan: Fresh insight into Jack Grealish injury recovery with longer lay-off expected

Jack Grealish is expected to be granted a longer period away from the Manchester City side to ensure he fully recovers from his latest injury setback, according to reports.

The England international first sustained an injury setback during the ongoing calendar year against FC Copenhagen in the UEFA Champions League last-16 first-leg – a night when Grealish had broken back into the starting line-up following a period away due to form.

However, that outing in the Danish capital was cut short after just 20 minutes, with Grealish being forced off through a muscular problem that was originally expected to keep him out until early this month.

A significantly swifter recovery period saw Grealish return for an FA Cup fifth round tie against Luton Town at Kenilworth Road, which would ultimately prove to be a premature return following an aggravation of the earlier problem within the opening 20 minutes.

Following back-to-back problems, Manchester City’s medical staff appear to be set on taking a very different approach to Jack Grealish’s recovery process, instead offering up a longer period of time to recover despite the intensity of Pep Guardiola and his players’ fixture schedule.

That is according to the information of MailSport’s Jack Gaughan, writing for the latest edition of the Man City Notebook, who reports that the club are set on giving Grealish ‘all the time he needs’ to ensure his reoccurring groin issue has ‘fully cleared up’ before reintegrating him.

That stance has been taken by Manchester City despite the crucial nature of their upcoming run of matches, that features a Premier League double-header against Liverpool and Arsenal, as well as an FA Cup quarter-final against Newcastle United this month.

MailSport reports that there is ‘an acceptance’ at Manchester City that Jack Grealish ‘probably rushed back too soon’ from the initial injury sustained against FC Copenhagen last month, and as such did more damage last week as a result.

As such, there is no pinpointed timeframe on a return to action for the 28-year-old, with Pep Guardiola hinting in a previous interview that he would play no part for England in the upcoming international break.

Jack Grealish will be hoping that he can overcome the latest bout of problems in his groin and return to his standard of performance showcased last season, simultaneously retaining his place in Gareth Southgate’s England squad for the upcoming European Championships.

In the meantime, Guardiola is likely to rotate between Jeremy Doku and Matheus Nunes on the left of his attacking set-up, whilst also offering up increased opportunities to Oscar Bobb – who recently signed a new contract at the Etihad Stadium.