Jack Grealish left out of Aston Villa squad for Southampton

Jack Grealish has been left out of the Aston Villa squad for their game at Southampton this weekend.

The midfielder has been demoted to the club's development squad and was not expected to make the trip with the senior party to the south coast.

Manager Remi Garde said: "Jack has continued to train with the U21 squad and will not be included in the squad for Southampton."

Garde did not confirm when Grealish will be back with the first team squad, although he hinted the 20-year-old could return to the fold at the start of next week.

"It could be (fair to assume he is back on Monday)," he added.

"The way Jack is playing is more important for me. Now we have to look at the performance of each player and in the forthcoming weeks - I am more focused on that than what he did."

Grealish was not part of the squad that lost 3-2 at home to Watford last Saturday with Garde claiming his conduct was "not professional or expected".

The previous week the 20-year-old was photographed at a Manchester nightclub hours after Villa's 4-0 loss at Everton and then again at a Birmingham venue the following evening.

When asked if he was concerned Grealish would continue with such behaviour over the Christmas period, Garde said: "Just because it is Christmas there is no need for players to party.

"Have time with your family, ask any European player if they would like to play on Boxing Day and they'll tell you it's fantastic. Of course it's party time but not for us - that's it."