Jack Grealish is hopeful his latest shin injury is nothing major and the ace could return to Manchester City ’s squad this weekend.
The champions’ £100million summer signing has not featured for Pep Guardiola’s side in their last two games.
He has been absent since discomfort in his shin in training after City’s 2-0 win over Brentford on February 9.
It raised fears the former Aston Villa ace had another big shin problem which affected him last term.
Grealish, 26, missed 12 games for Villa between February and May last season when he was ordered to rest his shin.
He recovered to finish the season with Villa and be part of England's run to the final of the European Championships, where he was used mainly off the bench.
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But the star is hopeful his lay-off this time will only be brief and he hasn’t given up on a potential place on the bench at home to Tottenham this Saturday.
City boss Guardiola is set to make a decision on Friday on the attacking ace.
Gareth Southgate will also be monitoring Grealish closely before he names his latest England squad for friendlies against Switzerland and the Ivory Coast.
Grealish has three goals and three assists in 25 appearances for City this term as he adjusts to Guardiola’s style of football which requires him to pass a lot more.
He was the most fouled player in the Premier League for the two previous seasons.
Grealish no longer has than mantle but is still being targeted by opposition players.
Grealish recently confronted rival Oriol Romeu in the tunnel because the Southampton player kept pinching him.
Saints boss Ralph Hasenhuttl admitted the City man ’“had a conversation” with midfielder Romeu after the game following their on-pitch spat in the 1-1 draw at St Mary’s.
The dirty tricks started right from kick off with Romeu setting out to antagonise Grealish by repeatedly pinching and twisting his skin and trying to spin him off balance.
Grealish was also on the receiving end of a bad tackle from Jan Bednarek, for which the Pole was booked, and Romeu, 30, leant in to have some words while Grealish was on the ground.
The ex-Aston Villa captain got to his feet and pushed Romeu in frustration as several team-mates of each side got involved in the flashpoint.
Hasenhuttl later revealed that Grealish “waited in the tunnel” to chat with Romeu after the full-time whistle.
Grealish has been cautioned just once this season and Hasenhuttl claimed: “They had a conversation and everything is good.”
