Jack Grealish admits he has asked Kalvin Phillips to call the Leeds United fans off. The Aston Villa captain was in relaxed mood ahead of England’s Euro 2020 showdown with Scotland – a match he hopes to play in. Concerns over his fitness have abated and the 25-year-old could line up alongside the Elland Road midfielder – or the Yorkshire Pirlo as some sections of the press have been calling Phillips. Grealish not only expressed his admiration for the way Phillips played in the 1-0 win over Croatia – but revealed he has had a bit of fun with the Leeds man over his treatment at the hands of Whites’ supporters.
Jack Grealish said: “I don’t know if you know, but I get absolutely caned by Leeds fans 24/7. So I always say to him, ‘tell your fans to stop messaging me in Twitter, man!’ Me and Kalv always have a bit of banter about that.”
With none of the tension that has developed between Leeds and Villa over the last couple of years Grealish went on to praise his Three Lions team-mate
Jack Grealish said: “He’s obviously very difficult to play against, I think the whole Leeds team is actually because of the way they play and the way they run,” he continued. Kalv is known as a passer and a hard tackler, but at the weekend he showed a different side to his game, for when he set up the goal. He went past a couple of players and then cut in and slipped Raheem through. Obviously we see that every day in training and we know just how good Kalvin is, so it doesn’t really come as any surprise to us, the way he performed at the weekend. Yorkshire Pirlo? I’ve heard that plenty of times. That’s what he is, isn’t he?”
