Kevin Nolan claims Jack Grealish was ‘head and shoulders’ above James Maddison – but BOTH must be in Gareth Southgate’s England squad for Euro 2020

Gareth Southgate has been told to take both Jack Grealish and James Maddison to the European Championships this summer by former West Ham captain Kevin Nolan.

Aston Villa reached their first league cup final for a decade with a dramatic 2-1 victory over Leicester in the second leg of their semi-final at Villa Park.

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Trezeguet grabbed Villa's stoppage-time winner to send the five-time victors to Wembley after Kelechi Iheanacho's second-half strike had cancelled out Matt Targett's 12th-minute opener to give Villa a 3-2 triumph on aggregate.

Villa, though, owe a huge debt of gratitude to goalkeeper Orjan Nyland, who produced three outstanding first-half saves, with boss Dean Smith opting to keep faith with the Norwegian who had served him well in the first leg at the King Power Stadium, at the expense of recent signing Pepe Reina.

And Grealish was also a star for Villa as he grabbed another assist, taking some of the shine off England international Maddison.

Both youngsters have enjoyed wonderful Premier League seasons, although fans have feared we could see another ‘Gerrard vs Lampard’ conundrum occurring with the Three Lions.

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The decorated midfielders were so similar, they struggled to fit into a formation which allowed them to play in tandem. But Nolan believes Southgate must avoid this with the the current crop of talent he has at his disposal.

He said on Drive: “I’ve got to be honest; until last night, I was a bit fearful about everything and the hype around Grealish.

“Listen, I always knew he was a talent, but he’s been up and down in terms of being in the papers and doing what he did.

“But when you see what he’s done for the last couple of years for Aston Villa and then watching him last night – he was head and shoulders above everybody.

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“I thought he was absolutely fantastic and when you have a talent like him, you can’t afford not to take him to tournaments.

“For me, he has got to go. Also, I think you have got to take [James] Maddison.”