Jack Grealish has been cut from Everton's Carabao Cup squad to take on Newcastle after 'a breach of club discipline'
Jack Grealish (Photo by Richard Martin-Roberts - CameraSport via Getty Images)
Jack Grealish (Photo by Richard Martin-Roberts - CameraSport via Getty Images)
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Jack Grealish was omitted from Everton's Carabao Cup squad to face Newcastle following a breach of club discipline.
The Blues meet their Premier League counterparts in the fourth round of the competition at Hill Dickinson Stadium, and the fixture appeared an ideal chance for Manchester City loanee Grealish to regain match sharpness, having been absent for significant portions of last season due to injury. However, he was notably missing from the team sheet, with Everton confirming his absence was not injury-related.
A social media statement from the club ahead of Thursday's match read: "Jarrad Branthwaite remains sidelined for a second successive game due to concussion protocols, while Jack Grealish is unavailable for selection due to a breach of Club discipline."
Everton have yet to disclose specifics of the breach, though the ECHO has learned that Grealish did not attend a training session after being unavailable for Saturday's 2-0 defeat away to Arsenal through illness. His exclusion arrives just weeks after manager David Moyes outlined his expectations of the 31-year-old.
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He said: "I think Jack knows what I expect now. We had lots of conversations last year. He knows when he comes here there is an opportunity for him to play and to show what he can do.
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"But I also want him to be a senior professional and a role model. We've got Tyrique and Tyler and if ever you are looking at somebody for how to play as a wide player, Jack Grealish would certainly be one of them. I think both of them could learn an awful lot from Jack and I want him to become that senior citizen amongst them, somebody who teaches them.
"I think we've got a mature Jack Grealish now as well in terms of understanding the game and what is required, being a team player – not that he is an individual but he plays with an individual style."
Moyes added: "If there is one person who would be able to carry that [pressure] it would be Jack, just because of the way he is. He will find it easy to carry expectation and he'll be happy to do so. That's his character.
"I do think that is the case [that there is more expectation in the second season] because everybody wants Jack to get back to where he was. His first three months for us last season were hugely important in getting us wins, so now it is about getting him right to perform at that level again.
"He's had six-and-a-half months out. He's had no pre-season games, he came on for 15 minutes in the Community Shield, so he's had no real football and I think Jack is someone who thrives on the football. He gets himself fit through the games more so than the training. We need to be careful and see how he goes but he's looking good."
Grealish enjoyed a fruitful loan spell at Everton last season before a injury cut his stint with the club short. He came back to Merseyside this summer and has featured six times, though he is still waiting to register a goal contribution.