Aston Villa boss Tim Sherwood has defended his decision to ask for Jack Grealish to be left out of England training.

Three Lions boss Roy Hodgson was keen on bringing the midfielder to train with England during the international break, with Grealish waiting for his new international registration.

Villa want to keep the 20 year old at the club to work on his match fitness after he missed most of pre-season with a hamstring injury and, ahead of Saturday's visit of Stoke, Sherwood insisted it is the right call.

He said: "He's missed pre-season and the last international break when we wanted to get some training into him, he was injured. So we're going to use this opportunity now.

"If he was called up for the squad then he'd be going but he wasn't. Roy asked me and said he would like to invite him there and introduce him to the boys and get a feel for St George's Park.

"I thought it was better for him to stay here and work hard. We'll use this time to get him fit for the remainder of the season. He won't be alone, a few of the boys are doing exactly the same."