Grown-up Grealish has found his focus, says Villa boss Steve Bruce

Until recently Jack Grealish was routinely pigeon-holed as a self-destructive, troubled talent but Steve Bruce believes his playmaker was merely a victim of Aston Villa’s once noxious dressing-room culture.

If there is no reason to doubt the Villa manager’s assessment, Grealish also seems to have done an awful lot of growing up. The 22-year-old would – if Villa go up – return to the Premier League as an infinitely more mature version of the midfielder who once drove managers to distraction.

Grealish hopes his top-tier comeback will be with Villa in August but first Bruce’s side must beat Middlesbrough in Tuesday night’s Championship play-off semi-final at Villa Park and then win the Wembley final.

An outstanding performance by Grealish at the Riverside on Saturday helped Villa secure a 1-0 first-leg lead, with Mile Jedinak’s winner headed home from one of his corners.

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“Hopefully I can get man of the match again at Villa Park,” Grealish said. “It’s a massive game but we’ll try not to let the occasion get to us. I’ve played in some big games but this could be one of the biggest. It’s about getting back to the Premier League, where this club belongs. I’m going to relish it. These are the games you live for.

“We’re going into it with great confidence but it’s only half-time, the score’s only 1-0 and we know Middlesbrough have players who can hurt you.”

Bruce, attempting to mastermind his fifth promotion to the top flight as a manager, believes Grealish was damaged by a Villa dressing-room culture now erased by his introduction of high-calibre senior professionals including John Terry, Robert Snodgrass and Jedinak.

“It wasn’t just on the pitch that I needed John Terry,” Bruce said. “It was to deal with a dressing room that had been toxic for years. It was important Jack Grealish could see a top pro like Terry and think: ‘This is how you do it.’ By the time Jack was 21 he had had seven different managers all telling him different bullshit. He needed stability and focus.”

So, too, did Adama Traoré. Another victim of the hidden chaos as Villa plunged out of the Premier League two years ago, the former Barcelona winger was swiftly offloaded but is now the star of Tony Pulis’s Boro squad.

“Adama gets kicked all the time because he’s such a good player,” Grealish said. “I always got on really well with him at Villa and I still speak to him. Since Tony Pulis has been manager at Middlesbrough he’s really taken to him and Adama has taken to Pulis. I’m really happy for him.

“We’re not going out to kick Adama but you’ve got to be wary of him. He’s that fast you need more than one or two players on him. He could still win the tie for Middlesbrough and I’m sure he’s desperate to do that against his old club. We’ll be working hard to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

Traoré was well shackled in the first leg by Villa’s Alan Hutton who, significantly, swapped from left-back to right-back when Pulis ordered his winger to switch flanks.

The 33-year-old Hutton, deputising for Villa’s hamstrung first choice left-back, Neil Taylor, will have to repeat the feat on Tuesday night when Boro’s teamsheet could be intriguing. Pulis must decide whether to start Patrick Bamford ahead of Britt Assombalonga, who missed some decent chances on Saturday, in attack or even, unusually, select both strikers.

“It’s going to be a proper football match in a great stadium at a great club with 48,000 people there,” said Boro’s manager before applying a touch of gamesmanship. “Occasions like this are why we’re all in football but I think the pressure’s all on Villa – they’re expected to go through. You never know, though, we could end up beating them on penalties.”