Grealish: We’re on fire

Aston Villa captain Jack Grealish admits confidence is sky-high in the camp and hopes Sunday’s stunning 7-2 triumph over Liverpool can act as a further springboard to go from strength to strength.

Grealish became the first player in Premier League history to have a hand in five goals in a single match – scoring twice and claiming three assists.

Two of those came for hat-trick hero Ollie Watkins and another for debutant Ross Barkley while John McGinn also got in on the act on a memorable night at Villa Park.

It means sublime Villa have started a season with three successive league wins for the first time since 1962/63, while Dean Smith’s in-form side are now seven Premier League games unbeaten stretching back to July.

Grealish acknowledges Villa are “on fire” but the skipper knows they cannot rest on their laurels.

Asked post-match if he could believe what happened against the Reds, a beaming Grealish told VillaTV: “No, not really, it’s crazy.

“The champions from last season who are obviously still a brilliant side.

“We’ve just started the season absolutely on fire, we’ve been unbeaten now, if you include last season, for a fair few games.

“And I think everyone is just sky-high on confidence.

“We’ve brought in some absolutely brilliant players, credit to the manager for bringing them in.

“We’re on fire at the moment and it’s one of those where you don’t want the games to stop, really. I think the international break has come at a bad time for us.”

Reflecting further on the sensational triumph over the reigning Premier League champions, Grealish added: “It was unbelievable, when you think about it.

“A few times, in the second half especially, when we went 6-2, 7-2 up, we were saying ‘what’s going on?’ while we were celebrating. We couldn’t really believe it. It’s not really sunk in.

“We can enjoy it for the next few days but then it’s time to focus on the next game because it’s a long season.”

You can watch Jack’s full interview below.