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Striker Tammy Abraham has backed Jack Grealish to lead Aston Villa to Wembley.
The on-loan Chelsea star is in awe of the skipper after he inspired Villa’s late play-off comeback against West Brom on Saturday.
Grealish set up Conor Hourihane for his 75th-minute leveller before winning the penalty for Abraham to convert four minutes later.
It allows Villa head to The Hawthorns on Tuesday 2-1 up in their Sky Bet Championship play-off semi-final second leg.
Grealish was part of the squad which lost last season’s play-off final to Fulham but Abraham believes he can help earn them a second chance.
He said: “He is a fantastic player and you don’t question why he is a leader. His ability says it all.
“He is a such a good leader as well. For us it is a massive bonus to have someone like Jack in the team. I don’t think he ever runs out of breath – he keeps going.
“I always think to myself does he ever get tired? Someone like him gets the ball and he keeps going and keeps going.
“He always believes and tries to encourage everyone – even until the last minute. It is always nice to have that behind you.”
Abraham snubbed a January move to Wolves to continue his loan at Villa and the 21-year-old believes he made the right decision.
“I always knew this was the place I wanted to be,” he said,
“Even though we had a tough spell in the middle of the season , Jack said just ‘wait until I get back fit, we will be on the up again’.
“I believed it, we have a fantastic squad here and we just keep going.”
Villa recovered after Dwight Gayle opened the scoring in the first half but the on-loan Newcastle hitman is banned for Tuesday’s game after being sent off late on at Villa Park.
Abraham, who scored his 26th goal of the season on Saturday, admitted the forward’s absence could be a game changer.
“It is massive. He is a great player, a great finisher and a Premier League striker,” said the England Under-21 international.
“It is a bonus for us that someone like him is going to be missing from the next game.”
