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| Grealish must prove to his new boss he is prepared to put the work in |
REMI GARDE has told Jack Grealish to prove he is the real deal.
Aston Villa's new boss is refusing to get caught up in the hysteria surrounding the 20-year-old.
Garde acknowledges Grealish is gifted but insists talent alone is never enough.
England boss Roy Hodgson and the Republic's Martin O'Neill were involved in a tug-of-war for Grealish after he burst on the scene last season.
The youngster has plumped for England but Garde has warned him he has got a lot of hard work in front of him.
The Frenchman said: "Jack is among the talented young players and of course he will have an important role.
"With young players, you must have talent but there is far more to it than just that.
"Young players can be impatient If you don't have talent, you have no chance but you also have to put in a lot of hard training sessions."
The former Lyon boss could hardly have been given a tougher start to his reign with Villa, stranded at the bottom, entertaining leaders Manchester City.
Garde added: "It is a tough game. They are top of the league and unbeaten for eight games while we have lost the last seven...ah well!
"We need to focus on ourselves and what we need to do. But we won't be going into the game thinking we have already lost before a ball has been kicked.
"When you look at their team they have top class players and that's not just on the pitch but on the bench.
"City are a great side with great players but I prefer to think of it as one where we have nothing to lose."
Garde flew in on Monday night to watch Villa's 3-1 defeat at Tottenham but insists he didn't walk away wondering what he had taken on.
"At 2-0 down against a very good team like Tottenham, the players still didn't give up. We showed good spirit," he said.
"Of course there's a lot of hard work to be done but I wasn't disappointed with the players."
Manuel Pellegrini is feeling similar puffed up about his players, and in particular Raheem Sterling.
Sterling's cool finish in the midweek Champions League win over Sevilla gave him six for the season - only five short of equalling the personal best of 11 he scored in his final season at Anfield.
City boss Pellegrini confirmed Sterling has been putting in extra shooting practice in a bid to improve his goals output.
"I knew he scored 11 for Liverpool but I don't think that's a huge amount for Raheem. I knew from the beginning he could improve a lot," said Pellegrini.
"He must score more and to do that he must work a lot. We try to work with all the players in different moments in training.
"It is important for a striker who wants to improve his number of goals to be calm in the penalty area. It's important to finish with your head up and dominate the situation, not let the situation dominate you. And that's something we are trying to improve every day.
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| Garde will be looking for stars to pull Villa out of the relegation zone |
"When you are 21 years old and you work as a good professional you will improve. And playing every day with important players is good for a young player like Raheem - you are always learning from experienced players.
"The third thing, which is very important, is the style we play is good for him. He will have good chances to score. He soon settled into our style of play and I'm happy that he has six goals already."
Comeback man Fabian Delph, who has recovered from his second hamstring injury since his controversial move to City from Aston Villa, makes his first trip back to his former club tomorrow with Pellegrini insisting he made the right move, even though he faces a fight to be a regular starter.
England midfielder Delph had second thoughts about joining City and initially called off the move, only to perform a U-turn a few days later to spark a furious reaction from Villa fans.
Pellegrini said: "There were different problems he had at that moment. But in the end I am happy for him because he took the correct decision. I'm sure he will be an important player for us in the future.
"I hope he will not receive a bad reception. He played a lot of years for Aston Villa and I don't think the fans will forget that."
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