Jamie O'Hara believes England manager Gareth Southgate has never "really loved" former Aston Villa skipper Jack Grealish.

Grealish was one of seven players axed from England's provisional squad for Euro 2024 by Southgate, with James Maddison, Curtis Jones, Harry Maguire, Jarrad Branthwaite, Jarell Quansah and James Trafford also cut.

Explaining his decision to axe Grealish and Maddison, Southgate said: "We just feel other players had stronger seasons, particularly in the last six months or so. Attacking areas, in particular, we're blessed with a lot of options, all slightly different."

"Madders and Jack both give us something different as well. They've been tough calls, calls that we as a group have gone over and over and over."

However, former Premier League midfielder O'Hara has claimed the Three Lions boss was never a fan of Grealish and his injury-hit season for City "made it easy" for Southgate to drop him. "I don't think Southgate ever really loved Grealish," O'Hara told Grosvenor Sport.

"He never got the call-up for England at Aston Villa when he was playing his best football, but Southgate had to put him in when he joined Manchester City and started playing most weeks. The problem for Jack is he's been injured and hasn't played as much this season."

"The fact he hasn't featured much for City alongside his injuries means it's made it easy for Southgate to leave him out, I don't think he's ever admired Jack that much as a player and I reckon he thinks there's better players than him."

"It's a tough call, I felt for Jack because I like him. You need characters in the dressing room especially when you're away for weeks, you need lads like that. He's a good laugh and a great player."

"He's won trophies and was a big part of winning the treble, so it's a big call to leave him out for Anthony Gordon and Ebere Eze who haven't won anything." Former England Paul Ince has also criticised Southgate's decision to axe Grealish, telling Bet365: "He's training with the best players and what Grealish gives you is calmness."

"On the ball, he gives you that chance to get up the park, he wins fouls when they're not fouls and can calm the game down, he can change the momentum of a football match. He can also excite you, he sees the right pass. I don't understand why he's not been named in the squad."

Would you have Jack back at Villa? Let us know here BirminghamLive has launched its very own WhatsApp community to give you the opportunity to receive the latest Aston Villa news straight to your messages.

All you have to do to join is click on this link, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you joined the previous WhatsApp Community, make to sure to sign-up to our new one as they previous page experienced a technical error.

If for some reason you decide you no longer want to be in our community, you can leave by clicking on the name at the top of your screen and clicking 'Exit Group'.