Alan Hutton has hailed Jack Grealish’s character as he struggles to increase his game time at Man City.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the former Aston Villa defender said Grealish wanted to play every minute when they were at Villa together.
On Thursday (20 October), Football Insider revealed that the 27-year-old was “devastated” to be left out of the City squad for the showdown against Liverpool.
The record signing was an unused substitute in the 1-0 defeat to the Reds on 16 October and told friends he was “gutted” to have missed out on such an important game.
The winger was back in the starting lineup for the Sky Blues’ 3-1 win over Brighton on Saturday (22 October) and was subbed off for the final 15 minutes.
Grealish has started four Premier League games for Pep Guardiola’s side so far this season.
Hutton said the England international will have to get used to being rotated.
“Any player, it does not matter what team you are at, you want to play every single game and he is no different,” he told Football Insider.
“I have played alongside him, even when he was out with injuries, he was disappointed. He wanted to win in every training game. So I know, mentally, what he is like.
“Obviously he is a strong character but this is one of the things he is going to have to get used to. Especially at Man City, you see how much they rotate and change things and it is something that he has not had to deal with before.
“When he gets the opportunity, he has to shine and I think recently we have seen his performance get better. I think it will continue to grow in that fashion.
“I have played alongside him, I know how talented he is. I just think there is different structures compared to what he was used to at Villa.“
