Aston Villa boss Dean Smith says Jack Grealish is thriving under greater scrutiny this season.

Smith believes Grealish has enjoyed the closer attention he has received from opposing sides since forcing his way into Gareth Southgate's starting XI.

"I think he's always been a marked man," Smith said. "Ever since I've been at the club teams have their own plan for him, as we would for top players of other teams.

"He's usually come up with ways to get around their plans for him and I actually find with Jack, he wants to come up with solutions.

"I think that's what gets his juices flowing, to come up with a solution to a problem that he encounters and more often than not he comes up with one."