Sky Sports pundit Paul Robinson has been full of praise for Manchester City star Jack Grealish for delivering a ‘refreshingly honest’ TV interview after lifting the Premier League trophy on Sunday.

The Lowdown: An underwhelming start

The 26-year-old was named on the bench and ended up being an unused substitute in Pep Guardiola’s matchday squad for the Sky Blues’ final game of the season against Aston Villa last weekend, where they secured an astonishing 3-2 comeback victory to clinch the title in dramatic fashion in front of their jubilant home supporters.

The England international made the switch to the Etihad Stadium in a British record £100m move from the Midlands last summer, but he hasn’t been able to make the start that he would have hoped for in Manchester. So far for City, he has only scored three goals and provided the same number of assists in 26 top-flight appearances, as per Transfermarkt.

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The Latest: Robinson praises Grealish

Speaking to Sky Sports immediately after the match on Sunday, the former Villa captain admitted that he has felt ‘nervous’ playing under Guardiola since his arrival at the Etihad, but Robinson believes that there will be a ‘big improvement’ in Grealish ahead of the 2022/23 season.

The ex-England goalkeeper told Football Insider‘s Dylan Childs: “I liked his interview after the game. I thought it was refreshingly honest.

“He has found it tough this season but it’s a different role for him. He has stepped out of his comfort zone into a dressing room full of stars with an expectation to win the Premier League. Man City are expected to win every competition they are in. Grealish hasn’t had that before.

“It is very different playing week in, week out for Villa being the main man. At City he is not guaranteed a game.

“I think the experiences of this season will stand him in good stead for next year though. I expect we will see a big improvement next season. He will only get better.”

The Verdict: More to come from Grealish

Despite his sparsity of goal contributions so far at City, the 20-cap England international has still made a positive impact whenever he has been on the pitch, having averaged two key passes, 1.7 shots and 1.5 dribbles per 90 minutes in the Premier League, via WhoScored.

Grealish is definitely capable of creating more in the final third, which he did with ease during his time at Villa, where he racked up 75 goal contributions. This is something which could come more naturally over time once he has had the chance to properly blend into the City starting XI.

Having just claimed yet another top-flight title, Guardiola will now be preparing for the start of the new term, when the £250k-per-week star could go on to play a pivotal role in maintaining the club's unprecedented run of success from over the past decade.

In other news… a Sky Sports pundit has backed one of Man City’s first-team stars to put pen to paper on a new contract