Aston Villa fans were not too thrilled when their beloved talisman and star Jack Grealish was substituted on, and then off, in England’s 2-1 victory over Denmark at Wembley.
The Villa forward lasted only 36 minutes at Wembley, coming on as a substitute for Bukayo Saka in the second half and then being sacrificed in a tactical reshuffle by Three Lions manager Southgate in extra time.
Understandably and unavoidably, some Villa supporters saw that as another snub from manager Gareth Southgate, while others accepted it as a necessary move. And pundit Gary Neville felt Grealish would have been ’embarrassed’ by the situation.
“Jack tonight has suffered, and it’s an embarrassing moment for him,” he told ITV Sport.
However, au contraire, 25-year-old Grealish was soon back on the pitch celebrating with his team-mates, showing no signs at all of being unhappy with the episode and was instead even pictured chatting with fans in the stands after the final whistle.
The bubbly forward even had time to take to social media to show he had no hard feelings and that the team came first always as a priority.
He happily tweeted: “I love this team!! What a night at Wembley.’
Although having started just one of England’s six games in Euro 2020, Grealish has produced some superb cameos from the bench, especially in the 2-0 win over Germany in the last-16.
His half hour on Wednesday night was bright and blustery, winning free kicks for the team.
Grealish will hope to be on from the beginning against Italy on Sunday despite facing stiff competition from Saka, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Mason Mount.